[0:00] Let us worship God, we shall sing to his praise from Psalm 66.
[0:14] Psalm 66, and at the beginning, singing to verse 7. All lands to God in joyful sounds, aloft your voices raise.
[0:31] Sing forth the honour of his name, and glorious make his praise. Say unto God how terrible in all thy works thou art.
[0:43] Art thou, though through thy great power thy force to thee shall be constrained to bow. All on the earth shall worship thee, they shall thy praise proclaim.
[0:58] In songs they shall sing cheerfully unto thy holy name. Come and the works that God hath wrought with admiration see. In's working to the sons of men, most terrible is he.
[1:14] Into dry land the sea he turned. And they a passage had, even marching through the flood on foot. There we in him were glad.
[1:26] He ruleth ever by his power. His eyes the nations see. O let not the rebellious ones lift up themselves on high.
[1:37] These verses 1 to 7, Psalm 66. So lands to God in joyful sounds, aloft your voices raise.
[1:47] Sing for thee, O Lord, let all this day.
[2:01] Sing for thee, O Lord, let all this day.
[2:15] And glorious name is this. Sing for thee, O Lord, let all this day.
[2:53] Sing for thee, O Lord, let all this day.
[3:23] Sing for thee, O Lord, let all this day.
[3:53] Sing for thee, O Lord, let all this day too.ishes the kingdom,得何, love, boleh, better, beeth parade. Most heavenly sea And to dry up the sea turn At the apposite child In marching through the flood On through the rain and rain When God He would never by His fire As the eyes the nations see
[4:58] Only for the earliest ones Will you come themselves on high?
[5:16] Amen. Amen. Let us join together in prayer. Let us pray. Oh Lord God, as we come before you, we give thanks that we are once again reminded that While we may be worshipping in our homes by ourselves, maybe some of us, that we are not alone in the real sense of that.
[5:46] When we engage in this act of worship, we do so. We may be by ourselves in our homes, we may be with families, we may be ones or twos, but we know that where you people are, they are called to worship.
[6:32] We are not only God, but there is but one God, Jehovah, who is both God over all and the only living and through God, as we said.
[7:12] Father, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we give thanks that we are able to worship you because you have opened a new and a living way for us in and through the passion of your Son, Jesus Christ.
[7:25] A way that was debarred to your people, even at the very beginning of this world's experience.
[7:38] Our first parents had a created right of access to you because you created them in your own image and that image was extensive and there was nothing to mar their fellowship with you.
[7:51] And yet they fell. And by virtue of that fall, they were divorced from your presence. They were driven out of the garden and you placed at the gate of that garden a flaming sword which prevented man from ever accessing the tree of life.
[8:16] Until such time as you gave us access to life eternal in and through the passion of your Son, Jesus Christ. Again, your word tells us of that.
[8:28] In the gospel, it reminds us of the true privilege that we have as your people here in the world. And that that invitation is given to us to approach a throne of grace and that there we will receive mercy and grace to help in time of need.
[8:50] And you encourage us to come. As your servant, the apostle said, that you present yourselves, your bodies, a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
[9:10] You not only encourage us to come, but not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We give thanks that this is what we are engaged in even today on this day that bears your name.
[9:27] That we meet together around your world in the hope that your world would speak to us and that it would touch our lives and encourage us and strengthen us and build us up in our never dying faith.
[9:42] Where such faith exists, we give thanks for those who have that living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that you would bless us in his name, all who belong to the family of God, all who own you as father, all who speak of the son as a brother, all who know the ministration of the Holy Spirit that gives to them the wherewithal to cry and to the father, even the spirit of adoption.
[10:12] We pray that you would bless us in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[10:42] That there are many who would have us believe otherwise, but that is not true of the scriptures of the Old and New Testament, that there is only one road leading to life everlasting.
[10:54] And that is in and through the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So we pray that you would bless us in the Lord and every other place that you would bless us in the name of Jesus Christ.
[11:28] You pray that you would bless us in the name of Jesus Christ. and present. We pray for these congregations that are vacant within our press but remembering the congregation of Carloway and Bach. And we pray that you would visit them in mercy and guide them especially Bach at this time and Carloway at this time when they are devoid of leadership in the sense that they have their own they don't have their own pastor. We give thanks for the opportunities that are there for these vacancies to be filled and we would seek that you would be merciful to them and guiding them to think of who it is that you would have over them. We pray for your servants who are even in retirement ministering in your name and we give thanks for them and pray that their labours will be blessed. We pray for our congregations throughout our denomination and all the denominations that bear your name where Christ is set before men and women young and old alike where the salvation of sinners is paramount where the need for lost souls is what is the burning desire that sends people out with the gospel. Visit our cities, our towns, visit our villages and our highways and byways in mercy drawing men and women young and old to yourself. Remember our communities at this time of pandemic when many restrictions apply. Your word has free course amongst us nothing will bind it. Your servants feel that they are bound by reason of the constraints that are upon us. But we have to learn from yourself that even Paul when he was in chains was not, the word was not bound. And it's still the case that even though we have to the access that we have to people that even though we are limited as to the access that we have to people there are openings that you have to create where those who hear your word are able to act upon it. And that's what is required that we hear it and that we act upon it that we listen with an attentive ear that we put into practice the word that we hear that is true for your people what they have accumulated over the years. Fiveік bad Honestly!
[14:14] Over the real term There have been a chance that we have grown in a kind of change that we're able to act upon it. And that the existent must be seen as only within the lines in the passage of our αλλά emり. But in comparison with an ancient language that we believe in our gemeins by ministry, that we've spoken even more when it comes from your faith even more when it comes to our Pero我们生母 and or our senators, of the earth where there are many trials that we know nothing of. Those who are impoverished and suffering from lack of food or water and suffering from diseases that are greater than they can ever hope to manage to get the better of. May you mercifully undertake for them. May your people be earnest in seeking out at your hand redress for those who are persecuted for Christ's name and we remember each other at the throne of grace. Continue with us we pray as we turn to your word. Blessed as we continue to read it and reflect upon it. Pardon sin in Jesus name. Amen.
[15:26] We're going to hear God's word as we have it in the Old Testament scriptures and we're reading from the first book of Samuel and chapter 8. 1 Samuel chapter 8. We'll read the whole chapter.
[15:42] And it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second Abiah. They were judges in Beersheba and his sons walked not in his ways but turned aside after Lucre and took bribes and perverted judgment.
[16:08] Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together and came to Samuel and to Ramah and said unto him behold thou art old and thy sons walk not in thy ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said give us a king to judge us.
[16:31] And Samuel prayed unto the Lord and the Lord said unto Samuel hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee. For they have not rejected thee but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day wherewith they have forsaken me and served other gods so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice how be it yet protest solemnly unto them and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him for king. And he said this will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you. He will take your sons and appoint them for himself for his chariots and to be his horsemen and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint them captains over thousands and captains over fifties and will set them to hear his ground and to reap his harvest and to make his instruments of war and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries and to be cooks and to be bakers. And he will take your fields and your vineyards and your olive yards even the best of them and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants. And he will take your men servants and your maidservants and your goodliest young men and your asses and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep and you shall be his servants and you shall cry out in that day because of your king which you have chosen which ye shall have chosen you and the Lord will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel and they said no but we will have a king over us that we may also be like all the nations and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.
[18:56] And Samuel heard all the word of the people and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord and the Lord said to Samuel hearken unto their voice and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel go ye every man unto his city. And so on may the Lord add his blessing to this reading of his word and to his name be the praise. I'd like us to turn now for a short while to the passage that we have read and we can read again at verse 7. And the Lord said unto Samuel hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee for they have not rejected thee but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them. Particularly these words but they have rejected me but they have rejected me for they have not rejected thee but they have rejected me.
[20:15] It is commonly believed and often asserted that contemporary society has rejected God or maybe it might be more accurate perhaps to state that they have rejected any idea of God.
[20:38] While that may indeed be the case it is not new. I think that has to be said. I say it often because very often we hear people say and perhaps we say it ourselves that things are as bad as they've ever been especially spiritually. That there's never been as bad a time as this. Spiritual death exists and things are black and they've never been as black. But we have no basis to make such an assertion.
[21:12] It must be understood as what is true is that such a rejection as is spoken of here is as old as the world suffering from the consequence of the disobedience of the disobedience of our first parents.
[21:38] That means that it is an antiquity as old as almost as the earth itself. So I want us to consider the implications of that this evening.
[21:52] First of all by considering man's natural inclination which is to reject God. I want us to notice how that is so and where we can see that.
[22:07] The second thing is I want us to realize that such a rejection of God must always come with a cost. A well-known book written many years ago by a minister called Thomas Boston carries the title Human Nature in its fourfold state. It was required reading for many a generation of Christians who had an interest in biblical theology. Its four main divisions are the state of innocence, the state of nature, the state of grace and the eternal state. Now in the second of these sections, Boston exhaustively draws from biblical evidence that describes the damage that the fall of man resulted in. In particular the damage that sin did to man's relationship with God.
[23:23] Whereby sin is permeating every fibre of man's being. If we quote Boston, he says, Behold the heart of the natural man. The mind is defiled. The imagination of the thoughts of the heart are evil.
[23:45] Whatsoever the heart frames within itself by thinking, such as judgment, choice, purposes, devices, desires, every inward motion, and so on, is evil. And all he is saying there really is based upon what the scripture repeatedly says.
[24:13] Now there is much more that can be said about this in the light of what the Bible says. But it can be summarised in this way. The deliberate rejection of God lies at the heart of human sin.
[24:32] Man as a sinner comes short of the glory of God. And we can see this in many ways, but we can highlight it in specific areas. First of all, in the passage before us, Samuel believes that when the children of Israel, or the elders of Israel, expressed a desire for him to make them a king, like all other nations, that this was an indication of the rejection of his leadership. But God corrects him, telling him that it was not him they were rejecting, but God, and specifically his role over them. Of course, it was not for the first time that Israel Israel, enviously looked at what other nations had, and yet were blind to the blessedness of having the God Jehovah as their God.
[25:40] Dale Ralph Davis suggests that there was nothing wrong with such a request for a king. But the fault lay with what was behind the request. They did not wish to submit to the authority of God, because they believed that he wanted too much from them. This authority is made known to them by way of his word, and this they found two owners at times. In the book of Exodus, it does not take long for Israel to complain against the very God who redeemed them from bondage. We read that the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron.
[26:28] But the scripture may explain that they were not complaining about them in particular, but God. We read that he shall see the glory of the Lord, for that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord.
[26:44] Your murmurings are not against us, that is Moses and Aaron, but against the Lord. They are but God's servants, charged to bring his word to them.
[26:58] The psalmist spoke of this time, and gave instruction concerning it. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
[27:11] God remembers this behaviour of his people and condemns them for it. And there are many passages within the Old Testament, and indeed the New, that we can refer to.
[27:24] In 2 Kings chapter 17 we read, The Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all the prophets and by all the seers, saying, And listen to this.
[28:04] To reject God's word is to reject the God whose word it is.
[28:21] His prophets and priests speak with authority, but only as far as they come with his word. There are false prophets who declare that they are speaking for God, and they are proved false when they are found to depart from his word.
[28:38] It is often the case that rejection of God results not just in God being displaced, but being replaced. Other gods, false gods, idols take his place, and they sacrifice to these idols.
[28:55] They pay homage to them. God knew that Israel were fickle, and he forewarned them of what some would do. After being taken to the land that was flowing with milk and honey, then we read, will they turn to other gods and serve them.
[29:16] In verse 8 we read, According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.
[29:32] But not only are they guilty of rejecting God's word, and God's messengers, worse still, they reject God's Son.
[29:44] This should not be a surprise to us. It is clearly declared in the scripture, Christ Jesus identified himself as the stone rejected by Israel, even the head cornerstone.
[29:59] The familiar words of Isaiah 53, What do they speak of if not this? He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
[30:12] And we heard as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Hear again his description from Isaiah. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, To him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation appareth, to a servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise, and so on.
[30:45] The Lord Jesus knew all too well that this was what awaited him. Despite the times of popularity, they would be short-lived.
[31:01] He told his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day.
[31:13] They were offended by his sayings because what he said was not what they wanted to hear. Is that not the way it is still?
[31:25] Many tolerate religion, or the Christian faith in particular, as long as it does not ask them to stop doing what they love doing, that God hates, or to do things God loves, and they hate.
[31:41] It's as simple as this. Remember how Jesus in the parable of the sword describes some as stony-ground hearers. For a time they receive the word with gladness.
[31:55] But they have, says the Lord, no root in them, and when affliction and persecution comes, not well, for the word's sake, they are offended.
[32:07] The rejection of the word and the one of whom it speaks is complete. In the passage before us, God permits them to be, to be, to come before Samuel and to decide a king.
[32:25] He forewarns them that it will come with a cost, a warning they ignore because they believe that what they want will serve their ends. The wisdom of God is to none effect.
[32:39] And they will be disappointed. To be like other nations is not all that it is cut out to be. But Jesus is rejected because the many do not want Jesus.
[32:53] Many have the spirit within them. They do not want this man to reign over them. And because they don't, they reject him. So the second thing that we have here is the cost involved in the rejection of God.
[33:12] Surely it's a matter of personal choice. of that there is no doubt. No person receives or rejects Christ against his will.
[33:24] But know this, it will bring down God's displeasure upon our heads if we do reject him or his word. The prophet Isaiah says, those who are guilty of this shall be consumed.
[33:40] We are told that God will do the same to them and more. Jesus tells us the following, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God.
[33:56] But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. When you deny Christ, you are rejecting God's way of salvation in Christ.
[34:08] Never underestimate what that means to God. Leon Morris in his comments refers to a brother theologian who states, These days we are unlikely to deny Christ in the same way Peter did, for example.
[34:25] But we may deny the unique authority of his teaching. imagining that on some points we know better than he did, or that much of what he said can be explained away.
[34:40] We may also deny his divinity and repudiate his claims. In either case, it is the sin of pride and self-assurance. Man's ultimate denial of the supremacy of Christ and of God.
[34:55] Now what is plain from this passage and others, it is God who will judge. It is not us that will sit in judgment upon him, which is what some people believe, as if they have the authority, as they have the place of privilege of sitting in judgment upon God and his world.
[35:19] He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him at the last day.
[35:35] If we reject God, we do our soul at his service. If we reject his son, we bring offence to bear upon God, which he will not overlook.
[35:45] And this is a solemn thing indeed. This passage reminds us of the way many forget so easily what God has done for us.
[36:01] His people can often do that. And perhaps you are one of them today who forgets the many privileges that we enjoy by virtue of God's grace, even common grace.
[36:17] And yet we reject his saving grace. We live our lives as if it is ours to do and that we can do that without without any fault accruing and without any damage following.
[36:36] While we do ourselves a disservice when we think like that. We give offence to God and it is not an offence that he will overlook.
[36:48] May God give us the grace to recognise that there is wisdom in ensuring that our acceptance of God in his word is complete without without putting any gloss over his word, without saying if or but or whatever which would excuse our inaction because that won't do.
[37:16] We need to embrace him as he is in the fullness of his word as the God who is God over all, who is King, the Lord Almighty. Israel overlooked the fact that Israel was a theocracy, that God was King and that he ruled them and he ruled them well and his arm was almighty.
[37:39] They wanted something but it was overlooked that it was a lesser something and whatever you choose in this world if it is not God or if it is not salvation by the hand of his son it is always lesser, it was always of little import in the light of eternity.
[37:58] May God give you the wisdom to know to look to himself with his help. May he bless to his word let us pray. Heavenly Father help us to remember that we are to pay heed to your word that we are to accept all that it says to us without without any question arising in our mind to which we would give place.
[38:26] Continue with us we pray blessing all who are your people cleansed from sin and now may grace mercy and peace from God Father God the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit be with you all now and always Amen