[0:00] Thank you.
[0:30] Thank you.
[1:00] Let's begin a worship of God by singing to his praise from Psalm number 147 at the beginning of the psalm. Psalm 147 at the beginning of the psalm. Praise ye the Lord, for it is good praise to your God to sing, for it is pleasant and to praise it is a comely thing.
[1:19] God doth build up Jerusalem, and he it is alone that the dispersion of Israel doth gather into one. Let's so on the scene from verse 1 to the verse of Mark 8, to God's praise.
[1:30] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth The last day you may have done up for you.
[2:23] It is alone. The blood is special.
[2:35] This I have got guided into one.
[2:47] Though such a warm weather night.
[2:58] I feel the day and night. In here I am thankful ones.
[3:15] In thunder he abides. He curbs the young and old the star.
[3:34] In days of every one. It is good to the Lord.
[3:48] And all the great Father. His wisdom's earth cannot.
[3:59] The Lord lives up the meadcast.
[4:11] The wicked who the God. Sing to the Lord.
[4:25] The wicked who the Lord. The wicked who the Lord. The wicked who the Lord. The wicked who the Lord. The wicked who the Lord.
[4:39] To cover heaven with light Before the earth below Became every new year as Upon the earth is new Let's join together, let's pray Almighty and most gracious God Rejoice that on this year day We can gather together to worship your name You are the only true and living God You are a great God You are our creator and maker
[5:41] And you are also our saviour We rejoice in you today as The God concerning him we have been Singing from your word We are thankful to you that you are the God Who reaches out to Take us back to yourself That you are the God who Stretches your mighty arm Who calls us so that in our hearts We hear your voice and your claim And who comes with your power To bring about change in our hearts So that we respond to you In love and in obedience And a desire to do the things That are pleasing to you And we come to worship you This morning and we do pray That your power would work in that Personal experiential way That all of us together in our hearts Will sense your claim upon us
[6:43] Will sense that you are Addressing us personally Will sense our personal need Of the salvation that comes to us Through Jesus Christ your son And sensing in our hearts The urgency of our need to know Peace with God Through the Lord Jesus Christ We are thankful to you for Every way in which The message of your word Brings before us the Riches of your grace in Christ Jesus For the greatness of the love That you have shown This dark world in him And for the greatness of the love That he showed When he laid down his life for us Help us oh Lord God In our minds and our hearts So that as we go through This time of worship We would simply not Note these things in the passing But that our hearts may be moved To marvel at all that you have done for us
[7:45] And our hearts may be moved In such a way as To reach out to you Your promises to those Who seek you That they will find you Your promises to those Who will knock on your door That the door will be opened to them And so we pray today To give to us A heart full of worship A heart full of praise A heart full of prayer And a heart full of readiness To hear what you as a God Has to speak to us You speak peace to your people And we pray that All of us together will know That that peace which you are speaking Is speaking into our hearts And to our lives We do your thanks to you For all that have gathered together To worship you today Give thanks to you For young and old alike Give thanks to you For parents and for children Give thanks to you For all who come Under the ministry of your word And under the teaching Of the scriptures We are thankful to you
[8:46] For the Scant Sunday School And for the children And for the teaching That they receive there We pray for your blessing To be upon their hearts As they hear the ministry Of the gospel And learn things about The great God that you are And the great sale that you are For sinners like ourselves Bless them as they grow up in life And give them to understand life More and more In the light of your word And that in the challenging times That they face in everyday life In school life And even in community life That in every way Which they face challenges They may understand What God requires of them And may they have that light In their minds And in their hearts So bless them we do prayers We commit them to you Bless parents In seeking to raise up Their children In the fear of your name Give to themselves That fear of God In their hearts That love for the Lord Jesus That desire to be Lights in the world
[9:47] And to shine forth for you And to serve you Not only in their families But in this community And wherever you call them In everyday life We pray for your blessing To be upon families And upon family units And your protection For them we do pray Bless all of your children Who gather here To wait upon you today We are thankful to you For all who have your grace In their hearts And we pray that whatever And whatever burdens People carry today Whatever anxieties Are in their minds Whatever things may Trouble them in life We pray that they may Know your peace And your presence And your blessing With them And to me They be enabled To say With the psalmist That in the midst Of those who Who are their helpers That God is Their special help And so stand beside Those who need you today In so many different ways Giving strength to the weak Giving light to those Who are in darkness
[10:47] Giving peace to those Who are anxious in mind And surrounding all With a sense Of the greatness Of the haven that you are To give rest to us In their times of need As we journey on Through life Bless those in the community Who are unwell Bless those who are afraid And weak Bless those who have Undergone surgery In recent times Pray for healing And health for them Pray your blessing Especially upon Karl Mackay That you will bless him After his surgery May you give strength And healing to him Day by day And may he be restored To health And to his home And to his family And to his community here In the days that are to come We come with him And his family to you Bless our wider Island community Bless your word Today as it goes forth May we know The power of which Your word speaks The power that Awakens people In their hearts To heal you The power that Brings about Change in personal lives
[11:48] And in community life And in the life Of our towns And our cities We pray you for Your Holy Spirit To accompany your word Today Here and wherever Your word is preached And that your glory And power may Bring about A great change That the kingdom Of God Will truly come In all of our communities And that many Would be added To your church Here And across our nation And across The world As your word Is preached Would you pray Bless all those Who serve your day Bless all those Who perhaps Are persecuted For your name's sake And for their love For you May you protect And keep them And may you strengthen Them in their witness And to may you cause Peace To reign across the world Justice And righteousness To be restored And to may the Troubled parts Of the world To may know The restoration Of peace The restoration Of life And of order And the end
[12:48] Of the destruction That has taken place In so many parts Of the world In recent months And years We pray you To have mercy O Lord your God We ask for your blessing To be upon us As we continue Before you We ask your blessing Upon your word And pray that as we Turn to it And continue to sing From it And stir you together That you will speak To hearts We do pray And may we Have a hearing ear And an understanding Heart And may we embrace you As you are brought Before us In the gospel As the only Saviour of sinners And as the God Of all the ends Of the earth So bless us And hear us And go before us Now we pray For we pray these things For Jesus' sake Amen Well boys and girls It's great to see You in church today And it's great You've come out In such a white And windy day So well done For being here The Bible story today Is about getting ready For the coming of Jesus
[13:49] And we do that Perhaps in a special way At this time of year We think about The coming of Jesus And we get ready For that But the man called Luke Who wrote the story Of Jesus Tells us certain things That we should be doing And as you go to Sunday I want to think of Three things And the three things They begin with The letter P And if some of them Are big words Then I'll tell you What they mean But don't worry About the words The important thing Is what's said After them So the first thing Is proclamation It's telling a story And we read in the Bible Time after time That there are people Who are sent by God To tell God's story And the person That we're going to Learn about today John the Baptist The Bible tells us That he was a man Sent from God To tell the people And so God Sends people In every generation To people of all ages To tell them The message Of the kingdom
[14:50] Of God And the message Of the kingdom Of God In the passage Today will be about Knowing Jesus Knowing the forgiveness Of sin And having peace With God In other words Hearing the story Of the shepherds Who were told That there was Good news Of great joy That was for all The people So remember today The proclamation God sends ministers To tell you about Jesus God sends Sunday school teachers To tell you about Jesus God sends your parents To tell you about Jesus There is a proclamation There is a message The second thing is Preparation Getting ready for something And the Bible tells us today That we are to prepare The way of the Lord That we are going to make The things that are crooked That are bent We are going to make them Straight And without bumps In the road Then we are going to Level out the road We have to prepare For Jesus
[15:50] To come into our hearts And we will tell you A little garden story With my own garden So in my garden I decided that I wanted To make a new path So I need to have a plan In my head That I want to do this And I need to decide Where this path Is going to go And then I need to draw All of the straight lines To make sure That the path Is straight And that is where I want it to go But in a sense That is an easy bit And you and I We want to know Jesus We want to go to heaven To be with Jesus And to say these things That is the easy thing But once I have done my lines Then I have got to get My speed out I have got to take the turf off I have got to dig the soil With my pick and shovel I have got to clear all the soil I have to make a way For the path There are things there That I need to move Before I can put my path In place And that is what God Is telling us in the Bible That we have to prepare
[16:51] We have to take away The things that God tells us Should not be there We have to clear the way For God And then we have to put in place The things that God Requires us to put in place So that God will come into our life And when you and I Think of Preparation Day We want to pray to God That he will help us To see the things in our lives That should not be there And the things that are not in our lives Which should be there And when we pray to God He has promised to bless us And to help us To clear our lives So that Jesus will come into our hearts So there is Proclamation There is a message There is preparation There is getting ready For 30 There is provision There are things That only God Can do for us When I am Preparing my path In my garden I can get rid of all the stuff
[17:52] That needs What not be there All the stuff that gets in the way But what I need To finish the path I don't have Myself I don't have Kerb stones I don't have Concrete I don't have chips I need to go and buy The material And I need to put all that in place To form the path There is a cost There is a cost To what We do in life And there is also A cost To following Jesus But the wonder Of the message of the Bible Is that When God promises Salvation to us Promises forgiveness to us He tells us That it is free So I prepare for my path And I have to go and Pay somebody To give them material And today You and I Prepare for the coming of Jesus And we just Pray to God And maybe Remind God That he has promised To give Jesus To those who pray to him
[18:53] And remind God That he has promised To give Jesus Freely To those who Would trust in him And as We go to Sunday school Today As we go into our service As we go into the rest Of this month Remember these three things The proclamation God sends His message of good news The preparation You and I Have to get ready For Jesus And the provision It's free We are saved Because Jesus Died for us And the Bible Tells us that The blood of Jesus Cleanses our hearts From all sin So let's rejoice That Jesus Has come That salvation Is free And let's wait For God And trust in God So that he will Bless us In our hearts Thank you for listening So we're now going to Praise God From Psalm number 119 And at verse number 57 And we're going to
[19:53] Sing down to Verse number 60 Psalm 119 At verse 57 Thou my sure portion Art alone Which I am to choose O Lord I have resolved And said That I would keep Thy holy word From verse 57 To verse 60 To God's praise That I would keep Thy holy word
[20:53] With my whole heart Thy deity Thy fist I'm favor free I'm pardoned To thy gracious word Give mercy To me I thought upon My heart For my heart For my heart For my heart For my heart And did my life I was thine And to thy death
[21:56] In all need Give my peace Entered Entered In all need I did not Stay Or linger Long As Bluetooth!
[22:25] Let's turn again now to hear the word of God in the New Testament, in the Gospel according to Luke and in chapter number 3.
[23:01] The Gospel of Luke, chapter 3, and we're going to read at the beginning of the chapter. Let us hear the word of God.
[23:14] Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Aeturia, and of the region of Trachonidas, and Lasanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Sechariahs in the wilderness.
[23:40] And he came unto all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
[23:59] Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
[24:13] Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come. Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We owe Abraham to our father.
[24:31] For I say unto you, that God is able of these stones, to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the road of the trees. Every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good food, is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
[24:48] And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answered and said unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none. And he that hath made, let him do likewise.
[25:01] Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said to him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do?
[25:15] And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages. And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in the hearts of John, whether they were the Christ or not, John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I cometh.
[25:37] The latchet of his shoes I am not worthy to enluse. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire, whose fan is in his hand. And he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner, for the chaff he will burn, and with fire unquenchable, and many other things in his exhortation, preached he unto the people.
[26:02] I mean, this is God's word, because they were blessed to us, a reading from it. We're going to turn to praise God in Psalm number 31, and in verse number 14.
[26:13] Psalm 31, verse 14. But as for me, O Lord, in my trust upon thee, I did lay, and I to thee, though art my God, did confidently say.
[26:30] We're saying from verse 14 to the verse 19, God's praise. But just for me, O Lord, in my trust upon thee, I did lay, and I to thee, though art my God, yet my God, yet my goodness, please say.
[27:12] my time shall go up. my time shall go up. Thank you.
[27:52] Thy good hands could shine to light upon thy self-sleeve, and to make you salvation for thy great mercy's sake.
[28:30] Let me not be ashamed, O Lord, but on me, Father, now, let with the men be shimmed and be shy, let in my dream.
[29:08] To Zionist, Zionist, that he is saved to save, and a great heart, sing bright and soar, on righteous day and day.
[29:48] Let's turn out to the Gospel according to Luke, chapter number 3, and we can read at verse number 3. Luke, chapter 3, at verse 3.
[30:03] And he, that is John, came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, to pay the way of the Lord and to make his paths straight.
[30:22] And so on down into the following verses. As I mentioned in the children's address, preparation is everything in many ways.
[30:35] Without preparation, nothing is ever going to happen. And preparation speaks to us of self-discipline. It speaks to us of considering what we are going to do, we think about it, and having thought about it, the need to be disciplined in order to carry out the task.
[30:58] Preparation and work, we keep an eye on the task, and we look around every corner to ensure that nothing will distract us or stop us from achieving what we have set out to do.
[31:12] And that applies in so many areas of life. But it is especially the case in the work of grace and of salvation, as we have that in the word of God.
[31:25] And when we think of the message that we have in these chapters here, it speaks to us not only of preparation, but of perseverance. Because if, for example, Isaiah spoke of the promise of the coming of salvation and of the Lord Jesus in 700 BC, and if Malachi was the last person to speak of the promise of the coming of Jesus in 430 BC, then for around 424 years, God was silent.
[32:02] He said nothing to those who were waiting for his promise. That's a long silence. And it's in these times of silence that perhaps our own determination, our own perseverance, shines through.
[32:20] And as we see at the beginning of this gospel, all of a sudden, God explodes onto the scene. John the Baptist is born. Jesus is born.
[32:32] And all of the waiting is over. And it's now time to think of what God has done and the response of the people to God exploding onto the scene with this great announcement.
[32:48] And perhaps one of the challenges that we face ourselves is that we have normalized the message of the gospel so much that we can hear time after time and we lose sight of the powerful significance of these moments in the history of the church when God eventually spoke into their midst.
[33:10] Today I want us to bear that in mind and want to think of preparing our hearts for the kingdom of God. And to think, first of all, of preparation itself.
[33:26] Here is John, the man sent by God. Here he is preaching in the wilderness. And his location is significant because God is taking John with a message of God's kingdom to the very area, place, circumstances into which God took his people in the book of Exodus.
[33:55] He took them out of Egypt. He took them to Mount Sinai and he took them into the wilderness there to test them and to prove them. And we know that they failed.
[34:08] So the kingdom of God is once more starting in that place which is the wilderness of testing what people will do with the word that God has to say to them.
[34:21] And as surely as John, directed by God, has taken the people of his own day into the wilderness of testing. So for you today, you may be in the exact same seat in which a previous generation close to yourself sat in the place of testing and they heard the message of the kingdom and they responded to that same message.
[34:51] Some responded and some didn't. In a sense, there is nothing here under the sun. God works in the same way. Here today is a place of testing for you and for me in the light of what God is saying to us.
[35:09] He is in the wilderness. He brings the people to the place of testing. And in that testing, his message is one of baptism into repentance.
[35:20] And the key thing to notice with regard to the details of his message, the key things, what must happen outside of them and what must happen in their hearts.
[35:36] It's a message of baptism. This was the sign that they were outwardly associating themselves with this movement of God's kingdom following John.
[35:47] And a simple illustration of why baptism is so key externally. When you think of the background to the idea of baptism, it is taking something, say a garment that is coloured white, and dipping it into a red dye, and it comes out on the other side with a different colour.
[36:11] So baptism is about the changes that take place in our life visibly and externally that other people can observe. And whoever we are today as we think of the message of the kingdom of God, that there is this process and this step through which we must pass if we are to show ourselves to be genuinely interested in the kingdom of God and in the salvation that comes through the Lord Jesus Christ.
[36:44] That your life must be visibly different to what it was because of the kingdom of God and because of the way which it has marked your life.
[36:56] And that is accompanied with the baptism of repentance. Repentance. Here is the inner change. Here is the change of mind.
[37:08] Here is the change of direction. I'm going that way because I think that's the way I should go and I think that's the things I should do. Repentance is about changing my mind because the things that I thought were the right things to do are the wrong things to do.
[37:24] And God tells me they're wrong. And because of that I change my mind and I start going in the opposite direction. And it's all about a change of heart.
[37:36] A change of desire. A willingness to go in the ways of God that wasn't there before. It's a movement that ultimately begins in our choices, in our decisions, in our wills and in our readiness to hear what God is speaking to us.
[37:57] and the whole movement is in verse 3 for the remission of sins. The direction, the telos, why does all this happen? Because the forgiveness of sins is now what's key and what's important.
[38:15] It's my relationship with God where my sins are forgiven. That's why I'm going in that direction and not that one. Because I know by turning my back on the life that I had and in following John the Baptist and following the Lord Jesus and following the disciples of the Lord Jesus, that's where forgiveness of sin is found.
[38:40] And in the wilderness of decision making and the wilderness of testing, God wants you to think today of the direction of your life.
[38:52] He wants you to think what is it that drives you to go in that direction. He wants you to think of how wrong that direction might be and how your decisions to continue going in that direction are wrong because you're focusing on the wrong things.
[39:13] it's something that's intellectual and it's not something that's going to happen in a vacuum out there somewhere. It involves your thinking and your choosing and God wants you to turn the wheels off everything that motivates your life and he wants you to think about how wrong you might be and how much you need to change and to turn around.
[39:41] And that brings John to and Luke to quote this great verse from the prophecy of Isaiah chapter number 40 as it is written in the book of the words about Esaias the prophet saying the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare ye the way of the Lord.
[40:02] There is preparation. Every valley will be filled every mountain and hill shall be brought low the crooked shall be made straight and the rough ways shall be made smooth.
[40:18] This is a big project. It's not to be taken lightly and the sense of the mammoth size of this project has to be appreciated because our lives as we are are simply not aligned with the kingdom of God.
[40:37] God's image that John has here which is taken from Isaiah is an image which speaks to us of preparing a way for the king to come along.
[40:49] All the flesh shall see the salvation of God. God's king is going to come with salvation and for that to happen we must prepare the way for him.
[41:04] And if we think for example of even driving over here this morning there are so many ways in which the road to Briassage and Kalanish was cut through a walk.
[41:18] But to give some kind of indication of the size of the task that lies before you if we drive up and down the A9 these days and we look at the whole project of journey the A9 from Perth to Irvine it's a mammoth task.
[41:35] I see forests being cut down simply in the way. I see rocks being blown to bits. I see hollows being filled by the rock that is taken out of the hillside.
[41:53] It's a massive project. And so it is in your life and mine. The things that are there that should not be there.
[42:08] The things that we must make every effort to remove. And the things that are not there which should be there.
[42:20] That our lives are aligned with what the Bible says to us are those who are walking in the ways of the kingdom of God. And that we use the spiritual gunpowder and the spiritual explosive of the repentance of the rest of hearts to simply blow away the obstacle.
[42:47] To cut down the trees that are in the way. To start levelling the path. To ensure that the things that make the entrance of the king impossible to make sure they're all removed.
[43:06] the dueling of the nine is a major project. Realigning your life and realigning my life with the ways of the kingdom of God it is a great project.
[43:22] And we will begin to work when we understand how great the project is. It's not like perhaps it is naturally when we see it something that's mammoth in its size.
[43:39] We cannot do that. The nature of God's work in our hearts is such that when we see how great the task is that we go forward because it is a determination to go in the ways of God.
[44:01] And perhaps today it may be the case that even as a Christian that the highway to God and from God has become blocked for some reason.
[44:17] And as we journey on through life and the life of faith these things can happen. We see reminded repeatedly in our news bulletins from time to time the ways in which there are so many potholes and roads causing so much damage to cars and to making journeys so difficult.
[44:43] And as a Christian today the highway to God can be filled with potholes and can be filled with obstacles and boulders and stones that simply make a pathway through impossible.
[45:02] And God wants today not just to remind those who are not Christians to prepare the way but also reminding those who are Christians to think of the channel of communication between yourself and God and to consider where there may be a block where there's something that you do or something that you've done or something that you've said or a direction that you've taken where all of a sudden there is no traffic between you and God there is no communication everything seems to have ground to a halt the preparation secondly want to think of participation participation and when John wants them to think of participation he is very alarmist he says to them in verse number seven you generation of vipers he wants to catch the attention of everybody in the audience he wants to make sure that there is nobody sleeping as he brings this message to them he wants them to be alert to what he has to say and perhaps today that sense of alarm and of alert is for yourself personal that you will stop to hear what God is saying and if they were to think of themselves as generational vipers
[46:46] Jesus was looking at the Jews in his own day and he saw them as belonging to the father of the devil there's a spiritual reality that they were unaware of and they were journeying on after John following the crowd not realising the reality of where they were in their hearts and so John captures their attention as if he were saying to them and as if God is saying to you this is for you to take notice of this is for you personally whatever you've thought of before be on your guard be alerted and hear this who warned you to flee from the wrath to come who told you that you must follow
[47:49] John the Baptist who told you that you must come to church to hear the gospel who has moved you to do so what's your motivation for being here what is John saying about their participation in verse number 8 bring forth fruits worthy of repentance he wants the evidence of a change of heart that's what John is looking for that's what God is looking for I read in my Bible in Genesis chapter 1 that when God created the trees and the plants that they all bore their own seed that bore fruit according to their kind so I get apples from apples from apple trees and so on and so forth there is after its kind
[48:51] I don't expect anything different from an apple tree and so it is with repentance the fruit is there this is what repentance should look like fruits worthy of repentance I guess the image behind what John is saying here is largely lost to us today we get digital scales and we measure what we want to use for whatever it is we measure it on our digital scale but the image behind bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance is the use of balances if I want two pounds or something or 500 grams or something I take my two pound weight or my 500 gram weight and I put it on one side of the balance then I measure whatever the ingredient is and I put it on the other side of the balance until it is balanced and the needle is showing me that this is exactly that and that's what John is saying he is asking them to prove their repentance by having the kind of life and of living that corresponds to that so if repentance means turning away from sin and hated for sin then that must be evident if repentance means turning towards
[50:30] God and making that journey back to God then that should be there if repentance means having a genuine fear of God and love for God in our hearts then that is what repentance should show so I'm building up on this side of the balances what the Bible says repentance should look like and then I am putting my life on the other side and the fruit of my life and that's how God wants you to measure your life today there were people here that there were those who were servants those who were publicans those who were soldiers and what shall we do so John is applying the balance to everything that they did in their own lives and so God today wants to apply that balances to your life and to mine so that we will examine ourselves in this place of testing and prove ourselves to have that genuine repentance and we may and we should go from this time of worship before God and go on to get the balances and go and think about what
[51:53] God has said and go and think about what you have said and what you have done put God on the balance the repentance and what God says on the balances then place your life there if there is no imbalance it is down to you the imbalance is not down to what God has said the imbalance is down to you and he was keen to emphasize that because of a confusion that we read of in the Old Testament that we read of in the Gospels that we read of in the letters of the New Testament what is the confusion this thinking that because they were in the line of Abraham and descended from Abraham to think that because of that they were okay they already belonged to the kingdom in verse number 8 do not begin to say within yourselves don't allow this confusion even to arise in your minds he was conscious that's what they were thinking he wants them to not only suppress that thought but to drive it from them as far as possible do not say within yourselves we have
[53:24] Abraham as our father descended in the line of covenant descended within the kingdom of God the God the Abraham to him God promised I will make of you a great nation the God the Abraham to him God said in your offspring shall all of the nations of the earth be blessed the promises were given to Abraham but not because of what he had done or who he was it was the blessing of God the God who is able from these stones to raise our children and to Abraham God is the one who brings alive from the dead who brings from darkness to life who creates new life and that's the only way that they can participate in the kingdom of
[54:26] God and perhaps today you are content in the church of Christ in the world because you have been blessed with witness and with example and with godliness in your family and you think you're okay and you're kind of in your comfort zone and you recognise the privileges and the benefits that god gave to you but the danger is that you stop exactly there and you fail to realise that that is simply not enough it is a gift from god it is a blessing from god it is a test from god that you will go on from giving thanks for the example and for the instruction and for the teaching and for the godliness and to ensure that you come to the place where through god's creative power in your heart your life has changed and the godliness that you have seen around you is now the godliness that has a root in your heart and it has a root in your heart because of the creative power of the
[55:49] Holy Spirit of God that has brought you to be the child of God with the cry of the child of God and with that desire to live your life as one belongs to the kingdom of God preparation participation and very briefly perspective where how under what banner were they to live their lives the perspective in the version number nine John says and now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees every tree therefore which springeth not forth good fruit is shewn down and cast into the fire at this very moment John is saying this is already happening the axe is the judgment of God it is laid at the root of the trees by God himself and it is laid there at the root of the trees so that the tree that does not bring forth good fruit is hewn down and wherever the gospel is preached wherever there is the evangelistic concern expressed and people invited to come to believe in the
[57:30] Lord Jesus there is a sense of urgency that as we sit in our comfort zones without knowledge without the salvation that we have in the Lord Jesus in that very moment unknown to us invisible also there is the imminent judgment of God and John may be accused of being alarmist in the sense that he brings nothing but judgment but when he goes on to speak of Jesus himself in verse number 16 I indeed baptize you with water but one mighter than I cometh the latchet of his shoes I am not worthy to a noose he will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire whose fan is in his hand he will through purge his floor and will gather the wheat into his gardener but the chaff he will burn with fire and quite shingle there is a salvation that comes when God's
[58:42] King God's Son our Saviour when he comes on the highway into our lives that is there through our preparation and through the work of the grace of God in our hearts salvation is there because of that but in the midst of our testing if we continue to fail here is what we need to bear in mind that not doing the John speak of judgment but Jesus himself his kingdom it is that part of his work is to separate separate the chaff from the wheat separate the Christians from those who may seem to be Christian those who may think they are Christians but are not to make that separation and those who don't bear the good fruit those who are not genuine believers and genuine Christians they are cast into the fire and the fire says I see it that cannot be quenched the fire says
[59:56] Jesus where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth it is unthinkable that today we should go from from sensing the arms of the Lord Jesus reaching out to us from the gospel that we should go from here and find ourselves at last in that awful place of suffering and may God help us all together today to do the preparation it is not too late to understand how alone we can participate we do our work all that God calls us to do but salvation is by the grace of God and to journey on through life and not to lose sight of the imminent nature of the judgment of God that we do not know the day or the hour when the Son of Man comes and then when he comes the time of testing will be over the time of separation will be here the time of everlasting bliss will be entered into and the time of everlasting lostness will be entered into as well
[61:13] God help us to put our trust in him and to make bread of his word let us pray most gracious God we bow before you the great God of our salvation the God who reaches out to us today in the gospel we pray that you will wash away of sin that you will give to us that new heart that new life that sense of deciding you above everything else and that knowing what it is to long after not only the salvation that there is in Christ Jesus but to long after knowing the Lord Jesus himself having come as a shepherd as a guide and as a keeper and as the one who loved us and gave himself for us so bless us we pray and bless your word for us and have mercy we ask we pray all these things for Jesus sake!
[62:06] Amen! The final singing is from Psalm 85 and verse 8 and we're going to sing to the end of the Psalm!
[62:26] I hear what God the Lord will speak to his folk he will speak peace and to his saints but let them not return to foolishness! To the end of the Psalm to God's praise!
[62:36] Amen! I'll hear what God the Lord will speak to his folk he will speak peace and to his saints but let them not return to foolishness!
[63:12] to them not be an ensure to give this salvation that glory and not behind Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth!
[63:40] Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth! Bluetooth! Bluetooth! Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth The righteousness is judged from heaven high.
[64:20] If what is good in our Lord's love, our untrouted in peace, just listen to the legions in his death, shall have no way whole in peace.
[64:58] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all, never and forevermore. Amen.