[0:00] Welcome to our service this morning. For those that were expecting Duncan McPherson, apologies Duncan's not here. So you have me, I'm Gordon McLeod, I'm the minister in training at Carly.
[0:13] So it's nice to be here with you this morning, albeit at very short notice. We'll begin our worship of God this morning, singing in Psalm 126.
[0:25] Psalm 126, and we'll sing the whole of the psalm. When science bondage God turned back, as men that dreamed were we, and filled with laughter was our mouth, our tongue with melody.
[0:37] Among the heathens said, The Lord great things for them have brought. The Lord hath done great things for us, whence joy to us is brought. As streams of water in the south our bondage Lord recall, who sow in tears a reaping time of joy and joy they shall.
[0:55] That man who bearing precious seed and going forth doth mourn, he doubtless bringing back his sheaves, rejoicing, shall return. I'm singing the whole psalm of God's praise.
[1:07] When science bondage God turned back, as men that dreamed were we, then filled with laughter was our mouth, our tongue with melody.
[1:36] They were on the heathens said, The Lord great things for them have brought. They were on the heathens said, The Lord great things for them have brought.
[1:51] The Lord great things for them have brought. The Lord hath done great things for them have brought. When joy to us is brought.
[2:06] The Lord great things for them have brought. Water in the sand, and of His glory come.
[2:21] Who so in tears shall we ignite, of joy and joy they shall.
[2:36] But my new day bring precious heat, and going forth that morn.
[2:51] He doubtless bringing back His sheep, rejoicing shall return.
[3:06] Let us bow in prayer. Let us pray. Let us bow in prayer. Our gracious and our blessed Lord, we thank you that we can come into your presence this morning.
[3:21] We thank you, Heavenly Father, as we have sung, that you did indeed restore the fortunes of Israel as you took them out of Egypt, as you freed them from exile.
[3:33] But we thank you also, Heavenly Father, that we can come this morning and you have promised that wherever two or three are gathered in your name, that you are there in the midst of that to bless.
[3:47] And we pray, Heavenly Father, that each one of us, as we gather here this morning, that we would know the blessing of coming to worship you, to worship you as the only true God, to worship you as you have commanded us to do.
[4:03] And we pray, Heavenly Father, that as we enter into your presence this morning, that our hearts would indeed be still before you, that each one of us would know what it is to be still and know that you are God.
[4:18] That no matter what we have faced in this past week, Heavenly Father, that we can lay it aside. We can cast it before you. Whatever our worries, whatever our troubles, you teach us in your word to come before you and to cast our cares and anxieties before you.
[4:37] Before you, why? Because you care for each and every one of us. And we pray, Heavenly Father, that we would indeed come before you and that we would indeed unburden ourselves.
[4:50] And, Heavenly Father, that we can focus fully on your word. We thank you that we have the freedom to be able to come and to worship you. We thank you, Heavenly Father, that you have laid it upon our hearts to give us that desire to come here this morning.
[5:09] And maybe if we don't have that desire, that we have come out of a sense of duty. Heavenly Father, that you would help us to see and to understand. That you have given us your word to bless us.
[5:23] You have given us your word to guide us. To guide us and direct us on how we may glorify and enjoy you. And we pray that that would be the chief end of each and every one of us.
[5:35] We thank you for the young ones that are here. For the parents, the grandparents, that recognise the importance of teaching their young ones in your way. That, Heavenly Father, that as they grow, that they would grow in wisdom.
[5:51] That they would grow in stature. That they would grow to know and to love you as their Lord and as their Saviour. And that you would mould and shape each one of them into the young men and women that you would have them to be.
[6:05] And that, Heavenly Father, that you may indeed use them. Use them in the work of your kingdom. We pray for the young ones as they go off to Sunday school, as they learn more about you.
[6:17] We thank you for our Sunday school teachers. Those, Heavenly Father, that you have given the gifts to be able to teach our young ones. We pray that you would bless them. Bless them in their preparation for their teaching.
[6:32] And, Heavenly Father, bless them as they deliver your word. The importance that is placed on teaching our young ones. You said, suffer the little children to come unto me.
[6:43] For such is the kingdom of heaven. And we pray that, as they learn together, Heavenly Father, that they would indeed be blessed. We pray for those that are unable to be with us here this morning.
[6:58] Those that are laid low through sickness. Those that maybe in this past week have had a diagnosis they didn't expect. Those that are still waiting on test results.
[7:09] That are in their waiting that they may know, Heavenly Father, your hand upon them. That they may know your guidance and your direction. And for those, Heavenly Father, that have been bereaved, we pray, Heavenly Father, that as anniversaries come along, that you would indeed be with them.
[7:27] That is to remember loved ones that have passed. That they would know your comfort. That they would know your care. Oh, Heavenly Father, we have so much that we can take before you.
[7:40] So many of our burdens, but you ask us to take them all. So even as we gather here as a body of your people, even in the quietness of hearts, as prayers go up, we thank you that you are a God that hears and answers prayer.
[7:57] So bless us as we gather. And may all that we do be to your honour, to your glory, and for the furtherance of your kingdom here on earth. In Jesus' name.
[8:09] Amen. Boys and girls, it's nice to see you here this morning. Nice to see so many of you here this morning.
[8:23] I don't really know what the order of service is here, so I don't know if the children stay in for a period of time and then go out, or do they go out after the next singing? No care.
[8:36] Just a wee word to you before you go off to Sunday school this morning. When I was probably about the age of some of you young boys here, I was travelling on the ferry one day, and I was about 9 or 10 years of age, and I had a real fascination for getting autographs.
[8:56] I had autographs of footballers. Some of you might have heard of Graham Souness, Kenny Dalgleish. I went around and I used to collect autographs of famous people at the time.
[9:12] And this time I was travelling on the ferry, and my parents were sitting, it was that long ago, it was in the Sullivan, and my parents were sitting talking to a minister.
[9:22] And I didn't know that this man was a minister. He didn't have a white collar on. He was sitting with a collar and tie. And my mum says to me, you don't have a minister's autograph, do you?
[9:37] I says, no, I don't. He says, well, this man's a minister. And Minister Julie signed his name in my autograph book. But beside his name, he wrote something that I have never, ever forgotten.
[9:53] And he wrote down Ecclesiastes 12, verse 1. And probably some of you are sitting there going, what on earth is Ecclesiastes 12, verse 1? I said to the man, what does that mean?
[10:07] And he says, I'm not going to tell you what it means. He says, I want you, when you go to your grandfather's house in Point, I want you to ask your grandfather to get the Bible out and show you what that verse actually means.
[10:21] So when I arrived at my grandfather's, that's exactly what we did. We got the Bible out and we looked up Ecclesiastes 12, verse 1. Does anybody know what Ecclesiastes 12, verse 1 says?
[10:37] Well, I'm not going to tell you to go home. Well, yes, go home and make sure that it is in the Bible that what I'm saying to you is true. When you all go home, ask for the Bible to be taken out and look up Ecclesiastes 12, verse 1.
[10:50] And it says, remember now your creator in the days of your youth before the evil days come and you say that you have no pleasure in them.
[11:03] And when I read that verse, I wrote it down beside that man's name and I never, ever forgot it. And it made sure that as I went through life that I remembered that God was my creator and that I had to give my life to him and walk with him all the days of my life.
[11:25] And that's exactly what I did. When I was 12 years of age, I gave my life to God, remembering that he was my creator and that he would protect me in the days of my youth.
[11:39] And that promise is true for each and every one of you young ones here this morning. So when you go home, please take out the Bible and look that up and remember that verse, each and every one of you, that God is with you and you remember God and he will protect you if you commit your ways to him.
[12:00] Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you again for our young ones here. And we pray that each one of them would know what it is to remember you in the days of their youth.
[12:13] For we know that evil days will come. But Heavenly Father, if they put their trust in you, as you have promised to each and every one of us, young and old delight, that if we put our trust in you, you will never leave us.
[12:28] You will never forsake us. So help us to meditate on your work. Help us to have it on our lips. Help us to talk about it each and every day and not to be ashamed of your work.
[12:41] And that you would bless these young ones. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. We'll again sing to God's praise. Again in the Scottish Psalter, we'll sing Psalm 24.
[12:55] Psalm 24, verses 1 to 7. God lost my psalm. Psalm 24, verses 1 to 7.
[13:18] Apologies. The earth belongs unto the Lord and all that it contains, the world that is inhabited, and all that there remains.
[13:30] For the foundations thereof, he on the seas that lay, and he hath it established, upon the floods to stay. And we'll sing down to verse 7.
[13:40] Ye gates lift up, your heads on high. Ye doors that last for thee be lifted up, that so the King of glory enter me. The earth belongs unto the Lord and all that it contains, the earth belongs unto the Lord, and all that it contains, the earth belongs unto the Lord, and all that there remains.
[14:17] For the foundations thereof, beyond the seas is given, And all that it is established, upon the floods to stay.
[14:52] Who is the man that shall ascend into the hill of God?
[15:08] For who is led this holy place, shall have a firm abode, whose arms are clean, whose heart is pure, and unto vanity, who hath not lifted up his soul, nor sworn be seen for thee.
[15:59] He from the eternal shall receive the blessing him upon, the unrighteousness, from the God of his salvation.
[16:31] This is the generation, that after him inquire, O Jacob, who do see thy face, with their whole hearts desire.
[17:05] He gets lift up your heads on high, He doors the glass for rain, being lifted up, that so the King of glory, enter me.
[17:39] Turn with me in your Bibles, to the Gospel of Mark, in the New Testament, the second book in the New Testament, the Gospel of Mark, chapter 4.
[17:55] And we'll read in from the beginning of the chapter. Mark chapter 4, verse 1.
[18:09] Mark chapter 5, verse 1. And he began again to teach by the seaside. And there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea.
[18:20] And the whole multitude was by the seaside on the land. And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, Hearken, Behold, there went out a sower to sow.
[18:34] And it came to pass as he sowed, some fell by the wayside. And the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much air.
[18:46] And immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of the earth. But when the sun was up, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
[19:05] And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up, and increased, and brought forth some thirty, some sixty, some a hundredfold. And he said unto them, He that is ears to hear, let him hear.
[19:19] And when he was alone, they that were with him, asked, sorry, and when they were alone, they that were about him, with the twelve, asked of him the parable.
[19:32] And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables.
[19:44] And he said unto them, to them, Know ye not this parable? And how then will ye know all parables?
[20:07] The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the wayside where the word is sown. But when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
[20:26] And there are likewise which are sown on stony ground, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness, and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time.
[20:42] Afterward, when affliction or persecution arises, for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among the thorns, such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things, enter in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
[21:05] And these are they which are sown on good ground, such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred. Amen.
[21:21] And may God add his blessing to this reading of his holy word. We'll again sing to God's praise, this time from Psalm 34.
[21:32] Psalm 34, we'll sing from the beginning of the psalm down to the verse mark nine. God will I bless all times as praise, my mouth shall still express, my soul shall boast in God the meek, shall hear with joyfulness.
[21:46] Extol the Lord with me, let us, exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, he heard and did, he from all fears delivered. They looked to him, enlightened were, not shamed were their faces.
[22:00] This poor man cried, God heard and saved him from all his distresses. We'll sing down to the end of the verse mark nine, to God's praise. God will I bless all times as praise, my mouth shall still express, my soul shall boast in God the meek, shine here with joyful hands.
[22:39] Extol the Lord with me, let us, exalt his name together.
[22:55] I sought the Lord, he heard and did, with joyful hands. And the Lord with me, let us, with joyful hands.
[23:08] with joyful hands. They looked to him, and lightened were, not shamed with their faces.
[23:24] His name, and lightened were, not shamed with their faces. The angel of the Lord in God, holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy Who comes in heaven's land
[24:26] Fear God, if saints Not that in fear Shall be with one to end If you could turn in your Bibles to Psalm 126 The psalm that we read at the beginning of the service And as you go there I just want you to think Of a time in your life when you were just overjoyed You were that overjoyed that you couldn't contain yourself It was evident to everybody that you met That something good had happened You were beaming It might have been graduation It might have been an engagement
[25:26] A wedding It might have been the birth of a first child It might even been the time that you were born again But you were absolutely overjoyed And everybody that you met Was aware that that was the situation But then as time went on After the engagement There was a pressure of planning a wedding The pressures mounting the bills that had to be paid Marriage Buying a house Mortgage Finding work after a graduation All these struggles that then came along And that joy that you had experienced The announcement of the good news Started Started To wane And you were left Same as the hymn writer Was writing Where is the blessedness I knew
[26:26] When first I saw the Lord Where is the soul refreshing view Of Jesus And his word It might be that You had given your life to Christ But the pressures of life Had come upon you The ability or the desire To read your Bible To pray Had gone And you were left saying Where is that blessedness I knew When first I saw the Lord As we turn To Psalm 126 With these thoughts Let us just pray Dear Heavenly Father We again thank you for your word We recognise that you have given us your word To direct us On how we may glorify And enjoy you forever We recognise Heavenly Father That each one of us come here from different homes From different situations From different backgrounds
[27:27] That you have taken us here this morning To hear your word And we pray that our ears Would indeed be open That our minds Would be open to understand And that Heavenly Father Our hearts would receive your word And that they would indeed be fruit According to your timing According to your purpose Some thirty Some sixty Some a hundred And we pray and commit this all To you in Jesus name Amen Psalm 126 When the Lord turned again The captivity of Zion We were like them that dreamed Then was our mouth filled with laughter And our tongue with singing Then they said Among the heathen The Lord has done great things for them The Lord has done great things for us Whereof we are glad Turn again our captivity
[28:28] O Lord As the streams in the south That they that sow in tears Shall reap in joy He that goeth forth with weeping Bearing precious seed Shall doubtless come again With rejoicing Bringing His sheaves with him Just look at the psalm In the two parts That we have it We'll take verses 1 to 3 And then verses 4 to 6 And we'll look at Verses 1 to 3 Under the heading Praise For past restoration We see That the psalm Is also known as a song of degrees And if you were to Flip back and forth in your bible Depending on how many psalms You have on each page You will see that there are 15 Songs of degrees Or songs of accents
[29:29] As they are In some of the other translations And if you were asking You know What is A song of degrees Commentators Have various different views On when they were written Why they were written But the one thing That they agree on Is that they were written And sung by the Sorry Not written by But sung by The priests As they went up to Jerusalem To celebrate The annual Feasts That the Jews Kept In that time And you can imagine them Singing these psalms As they went up To the temple To celebrate Singing Of how God Had restored Their fortunes Charles Spurgeon Calls them The psalter Within the psalter And You know It's not Uncommon For us to sing
[30:30] Particular psalms At particular times Of years Particular Psalms That commemorate And remind us Of communion seasons Of pointing forward To the birth of Christ That we would sing Towards Christmas Or At times of baptism That we would have Particular psalms That we would sing And so we come To psalm 126 We can see in the psalm That it says In verse 1 When the Lord Turned again The captivity Of Zion And we can see As we sang That it refers To the bondage That the children Of Israel Were in If we trace Back From The book Of Exodus Right the way Through The Old Testament We can see A pattern
[31:30] Of when The children Of Israel Were in Bondage Were in Captivity Were suffering Famine Were under Oppression By enemy Armies And we ask Why was that The case What we very Quickly see Is That when The fortunes Of Israel Turned against Them Was when Israel Turned their Back On God God had Said to them That if They were His people And they Worshipped him He would be With them And he would Bless them But what we See time and Time again In the history Of the children Of Israel Is that they Turned away From God And when They turned Away from God Things Didn't work Well for Them They asked For a king And they Were given A king And then Saul Was replaced Because he Turned away From God And then
[32:32] David was put On the throne And then David's son Solomon And we can Read in 1st Kings 11 9 and 10 And the Lord was Angry with Solomon Because his Heart had Turned away From the Lord The God Of Israel Who had Appeared to Him twice And had Commanded him Concerning This thing That he Should not Go after Other gods But he Did not Keep What the Lord Commanded And then We see That the Children of Israel Time and Time again Were turning Away From God We can Read the History Of the Different Kings That then Came after Solomon And as we Read about Their names Mentioned in The books Of kings And in the Book of Chronicles What we Read is So and so Became king And they Did evil In the Eyes
[33:32] Of the Lord Or We may Actually read That he Did right In the Eyes of The Lord But he Did not Remove The high Places The high Places Were the Places That the Children of Israel Went to Worship Other gods As they Went into Other countries And took Over the Places That they Were taking Over as They were Moving towards The promised Land And as They then Got into The promised Land We see That they Took on The worship Of other Gods When they Didn't wipe Out all The nations The way That they Were supposed To And they Took people With them To their Practices That were Against The laws Of God The people Then turned And turned Away from God We then Read of Hezekiah Coming to The throne And we Notice Something Different As we
[34:33] Read at The beginning Of 2nd Kings 18 And I'll Just Summarise What it Says Hezekiah Began To reign And he Did what Was right In the Eyes Of the Lord He Removed The high Places And he Broke The pillars And cut Down the Asherah He held Fast To the Lord And what Do we Read in Verse 7 And the Lord was With him Wherever he Went out He Prospered When the Children of Israel Turned from The worship Of God Their Fortunes Changed For the Worse Conversely When the People returned To worship The Lord The one True God We see That their Fortunes Were restored And we Can see As we Signed There Just how Great That was For them As their Worship Was restored
[35:34] But what Does the Psalmist Point us To here What does The Psalmist Tell us To think About Right at The beginning Of the Psalm When the Lord Restored Or turned Again The fortunes Of Zion When the Lord The people Of Israel Turned their Back on God And went So far Away from God That they Got into So much Difficulty That when They realized What they Had done And they Turned back To God It was the Sovereign hand Of God That then Freed them From the Difficulties We can Think of When they Were Hemmed In by The Philistines The story Of David And Goliath We can Think of When they Were Under siege We can Think of When Haman Was trying To kill All the Jews It wasn't
[36:34] Man that Intervened It was God And we Have to Remember In applying This to Our own Lives That when We turn Away from God When we Turn away From Worshipping God Do we Wonder why Our lives Get difficult Do we Wonder why When we're Giving our Time to Something else Now you Might turn Around and Say well I'm not Like the Children of Israel I'm not Worshipping Other gods But there Was kings That came And while They did Right In the Eyes of The lord They didn't Remove What needed To be Removed That became A distraction And that People turned Back to Worshipping False gods Now we Don't have False gods Or do we What are we Giving our Time to What are we Focusing on That's taking Us away From god What are we Giving more Time to Than reading
[37:34] God's Word What are we Using our Lips for If we're not Praising god Are we Talking about Other people Are we Seeking To be Uplifted By other People As opposed To us Uplifting Praise To god And the Other thing It might Be that You've Found That you've Been in a Really dark Place You've been Going through Difficult And challenging Times And you've Come to god In prayer And you've Said to god If this Happens I will Do this If you Fix this I will Do this For you And the Situation Has been Made better For you What you Prayed for Has been Answered Way beyond What you Expected Have you Come back And thanked God Have you Actually done What you Said you Would do When god
[38:37] Restored The fortunes Of israel What did We see We saw That they Were filled With joy So much So That the People round About them Actually Recognised That the Situation That they Had been In God Had fixed It for Them What did We read In verse Two The lord Has done Great things For them It says Here That even The neighbours That were Beside them The psalmist Refers to Them as Heathens Those that Didn't Worship God Had to Stop And acknowledge That it Was god That had Done great Things Within this Nation We stop And we Think about Our own Lives Those of us That are Christians here This morning Does the Joy That we Have for
[39:37] The lord Overflow In our Lives That it's Recognisable By those That we Come into Contact With Each and Every day The psalmist Records The psalm 118 Verse 24 This is the Day that The lord Has made Let us Rejoice And be Glad in It Is that The words That are On your Lips When you Get up Every morning Or is The head Down Thinking Oh I've Got this To do I've Got that To do Are we Really Thanking God For each And every Gift Every blessing That he Gives to Us So when We go Out That joy That we Have for The lord Is overflowing In our Lives That others Are actually Able To see It If your Next door Neighbor Your colleague At work Was interviewed Would they Be able To say Of you
[40:37] Would they Give testimony Of you That it's Evident That the lord Has done A great work In your Life Or in my Life Are we Living our Lives As a Thank offering To god So much So That our Neighbours The people That we're Coming into Contact with That god Is bringing Across our Path Are actually Seeing That joy Each and Every day We move On to Verse 4 As I Said This psalm Comes in Two parts As we Read it You can See That there's Great joy And then There's Great pleading If we Had gone This Psalm Had been Made Into a Play And we Had gone To watch This The curtain Would have Come down At the end Of scene One Everybody's
[41:37] Joyful Great joy Laughter Singing You would Expect the Curtain to Come up The chorus Line singing I've got Joy joy joy Deep in my Heart Or my god Is so big So strong And so Mighty What do We see Here We see A very Different Situation The lights Are dark On the Stage The stage Hand Comes in From stage Right Lifts up The card That reads 20 years Later 30 years Later 40 years Later The light Starts to Come up In the Right hand Corner of The stage We see The psalmist Who we've Been introduced To In the First part Of the Play Leading The praise Leading The chorus The lord Has done Great things For us But no Longer is He singing
[42:38] He's on His knees Head bowed Arms On a Chair And all We hear Him say Is Turn Again Our Captivity As streams In the South Or Restore Our Fortunes O Lord Restore Our Fortunes Once Again Turn Us We're Back In Captivity Take Us Out Of It Pleading Before God And then The lights Come up On the Back Of The Stage And we See People On Their Knees Weeping Trying To Break The Ground To Plant The Seeds The Ground Has Gone So Dry That They're Crying Out For Water To Refresh The Ground It's A Whole Change For The People Again We Don't Know Whether It's A Change In King We Don't Know Whether It's Another Army
[43:38] That's Come To Beseech Them But Here They Are In A Dark Place Once Again They Had Seen Great Blessing But Again The Land Has Turned Hard And Dry It's Not A Great Stretch Of The Imagination Some Of You Here Would Have Lived Through It When There Was A Time Of Real Blessing And Outpouring Of God's Spirit In Times Of Revival Here On The Islands There's Plenty Of Stories To Be Read Of The Joy And The Laughter That There Was As People Came To Know The Lord As Their Saviour It's A Hard Time In Terms Of Looking Back And Thinking Where Is The Blessedness That
[44:39] We Once Knew Those That Lived Through It Thinking Why Can't We Have Times Like That Again Why Are Hearts So Hard Where Are We Going To See Streams Once Again Flowing Of Blessing Streams!
[45:30] To The Thought Running Through His Mind As We Read In 2 Chronicles 7 And 14 As He Pays To God If My People Who Are Called By My Name Humble Themselves And Pray And Seek My Face And Turn From Their Wicked Ways Then I Will Hear From Heaven And Will Forgive Their Sin And Heal Their Land Streams Of Water That Flowed In The Desert For Them Would Not Only Have Brought Healing To The Land But It Would Have Allowed The People To Cultivate The Ground It Would Have Given Them Water To Drink Water To Bathe In Great Streams Of Refreshing Bringing Restoration And Bringing Healing Again The Agricultural Imagery Of Verses Five And Six It's Not One That's Lost On
[46:31] People Round Here We Can Look Out On The Hill Sides And The Land Still Bears Witness To How Difficult It Was For Past Generations To Find Enough Ground To Be Able To Plant Their Crops It Was Hard Graft Creating And Managing Lazy Beds Wherever There Was Enough Ground To Have The Depth Of Soil That To Be Able To Plant Crops Crops That Would Provide For Households Within Villages They Would Have Disappointment Had Years Of Failed Crops But There Was Perseverance Perseverance Because If There Wasn't Perseverance There Was No Food For The Table No Supermarket At The End Of The Road They Had To Provide For Themselves When Harvest Was Taken Home There Was Great Rejoicing Great Rejoicing Villager Helping Villager Celebration
[47:32] Had Within The Village They That Sown Tears Shall We Enjoy Not Everybody Within The Village Is Fit Enough Able Enough Old Enough To Be Able To Go Out And Plant Seeds But I'm Sure That Each One Of Them Would Have Stayed At Home Praying For Those That Were Out Praying For Each And Every Seed That Went Into The Ground That It Would One Day Bear A Crop That Would Sustain The Family Throughout The Winter And You Can Imagine That Although They Never Went Out To Sow The Seed They Still Shared In The Joy When The Seeds Bore Fruit And The Harvest Was Taken Home We Read In The Gospel Of Mark Chapter 4 Another Agricultural illustration And It's Not
[48:32] Too Great A Jump For Us To Go To Verse 14 Where We Read That The Sower Sows The Word The Seed That Goes Out Here This Morning And In Other Congregations Around The Island Is The Seed Of God's Word When The Word Of God Is Being Preached In Preparation For The Word Of God Being Preached Can I Ask Are You Praying For That Seed Are You Praying For The Hearts That Are Here This Morning That They Will Be Open That Will Be Receptive To The Word Of God Are We Weeping Daily Over Those That Are Standing On The Path Those That Are Struggling With Life In General Those That Have In The Past Shown Signs Of Life That Have Fallen
[49:32] Away Are We Weeping Daily That The Seeds That Were Sown That They Would Indeed Fall On Hearts That Are Open And Receptive To God's Word We Spoke Of The Lewis Revival And Many Of You Will Know The Stories Of Peggy And Chrissy Smith Both In Their Eighties One Blind One Riddled With Arthritis Not Able To Get Out To Church But What Did They Commit To Do They Committed To Pray Why Because They Were Concerned About The Lack Of Young People Coming Out To Church And They Prayed And They Prayed And They Prayed And As They Say The Rest Is History We Can Read Of The Many That Came To Christ During The Revival And Gave Their Lives And
[50:32] The Benefit That We Receive Now From The Seeds That Were Sown Down Through The Ages Verse Six He Who Goes Out Weeping Or He That Goes Forth And Weepeth Bearing Precious Seed Shall Doubtless Come Again With Rejoicing Bringing His Sheaves With Him You Here This Morning Hearing This Word You May Have Read This Psalm Time And Time Again But I've Been Wrestling With This Word Not Just This Morning But Every Time I Read This Psalm In Terms Of Preparation For Coming To Preach It The Responsibility Not Just To Pray Over The Word But To Pray That As The Word Goes Out That Hearts Are Prepared Not To Hear What I've Got To Say But
[51:33] To Hear What God's Word Has To Say To Each And Every One Of Us There's A story Told Of A Minister Who Was Concerned About The Meagre Number Of People That Were Coming To Christ Under His Preaching He Went To Dundee To St.
[51:54] Peter's Church Where Robert Murray McShane Had Once Been The Minister The Church Officer There Had Been There When Robert Murray McShane Was The Minister And The Young Minister Went To Speak To Him And He Said To Can You Show Me Or Tell Me How Robert Murray McShane Was So Blessed In His Ministry And He Took The Young Man Into The Vestry He Says Sit Sit In The Chair There Now Put Your Hands On The Desk Put Your Elbows On The Desk Put Your Face In Your Hands That's It That's The Way McShane Used!
[52:37] To Do It Now Weep Weep For The People That Will Be Coming Here Sunday After Sunday Weep For The People That Are Before You Are We Weeping In The Hope Of Seeing People Coming To Christ That We Will See Lives Changed That Every One Of The Seats Here Would Be Filled With People Wanting To Come And To Hear God's Word And Be Changed By God's Word There's A hymn Written On The Basis Of This Psalm And One Of The Verses Reads Going Forth With Weeping Sowing For The Master Though The Lost Sustained Our Spirit Often Grieves!
[53:25] When Our Weeping Is Over He Will Bid Us Welcome We Will Come Rejoicing Bringing In The Sheaves To Points Us To A Day Where There Will Be A Great Harvest Tells Us That We Be Rejoicing In Heaven Over One Sinner Who Repents But It Also Tells Us In The Bible There's A Day Coming When Jesus Will Return Jesus Will Return And Take The Great Harvest Of All Those That Have Committed Their Lives To Him Who Have Walked With Him Remember What We Said For The Young Ones This Morning Remember Now Thy Creator In The Days Of Thy Youth Not One Of Us Is Promised Tomorrow We Have To Remember Now Our Creator Jeremiah The Prophet Again
[54:26] Relating An Agricultural Image To Us Says The Harvest Has Passed Summer Has Ended And Still We Are Not Saved Is That Your Testimony This Morning That Still You Are Not Saved You Might Be Wondering What Does This Passage Actually Mean For You You Longing For A Day Of Things To Be Restored For You But The Reality Is That Unless We Turn To God And Commit Our Ways To Him There Is A Day Coming That We May Be Lost Forever I Don't Know The Situation Of Each And Every One Of You Here This Morning How Many Of You Already Given Your Lives To Christ
[55:26] How Many Of You Have Come To Christ But Are Going Through Difficult Times How Many Of Are Thinking Well This Isn't For Me Jesus Is Coming Back And What We Have To Ask Ourselves Is Are We Going To Meet Him As Our Lord And As Our Savior Or Are We Going To Meet Him As Our!
[55:52] There Is A Harvest Day Coming And We Can Rejoice In That Harvest Or We Can Carry On Going With Our Heads Down Wondering Will Life Get Ever Get Any Better You May Be Thinking Is This All That God Has For Me But As We Saw With The Children Of Is When They Turned Back To God Committed Their Ways To God There Was Blessing There Was Joy And That Didn't Mean Every Day Of Life Was Happy And Joyful Yes There Are Still Struggles But We Don't Need To Face These Struggles On Our Own And Said To The Young On And Prayed For The Young On If We Commit Our Ways To God He Has Promised That He Will Never Leave Us That He Will Never Forsake Us He's Coming Back He's Gone To Prepare A Place For Each And Every One Of
[56:52] We Going To Be With Him When That Harvest Is Taken! Home Or Are We Going! Left Let's Pray Dear Heavenly Father Your Word Does Indeed Speak To Each And Every One Of Us Sometimes Your Word Is A Word Of Encouragement To Us Sometimes Your Word Is A Word Of Correction To Us But Each And Every Time Your Word Is A Word Of Blessing And We Pray That We Would Know Your Blessing As We Have Gathered!
[57:26] Here This Morning As You Have Spoken To Us Through Your Word Heavenly Father That We Would Indeed Come To You As We Know That Your Arms Are Wide Open Some Of Us Come Here This Morning That We Are We Are We Are We Are We Are We Are We Are We Are We And I Will Give You Rest And We Pray That Each One Of Us Would Know That Rest This Morning In Your Son's Name Amen Close Our Service Sing In Psalm 111 Praise Ye The Lord With My Whole Heart I Will God's Praise Declare Where The Assemblies Of The Just And Congregations Are The Whole Works Of The Lord Are Great Above All Measure So Out The Are Of Every One That Doth Therein Take Pleasure In May Each And Every One Of Us Take Pleasure In God This Morning We'll Sing These Verses
[58:26] Down To The End Of The Verse Mark Four To God's Praise! Praise Ye The Lord With My Whole Heart I Will God's Prince Is Will The Of The Of The Just And Congregations Are The Whole Works Of The Lord Our God Are Great Above All Measure So That They Are Of
[59:27] Every One That Does Their End Take Pleasure This World Most Long Are Most Glorious Of The Most Of Pure And His Unchanged His Righteousness Forever God Ever None Ever None Ever!
[60:12] This World Was Wonderful! Wonderful God I close with a benediction To the only God our Saviour Through Jesus Christ our Lord Be glory, majesty, dominion and authority Before all time Now and forevermore Amen