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[0:00] We shall resume our public worship of God by singing from Psalm 89, Psalm 89 and we're singing from the beginning.

[0:14] Psalm 89 from the beginning. God's mercies I will ever sing, and with my mouth I shall thy faithfulness make to be known to generations all.

[0:26] For mercy shall be built, said I, forever to endure. Thy faithfulness even in the heavens thou wilt establish sure. I with my chosen one have made a covenant graciously, and to my servant whom I love to David sworn have I.

[0:45] That I thy seed establish shall forever to remain, and will to generations all thy throne build and maintain. The praises of thy wonders, Lord, the heavens shall express, and in the congregation of saints thy faithfulness.

[1:03] For who in heaven with the Lord may once himself compare, who is like God among the sons of those that mighty are.

[1:15] We can sing these verses 1 to 6 of Psalm 89. Thank God's mercies I will ever sing, and with my mouth I shall. God's mercies I will ever sing, and with my mouth I shall.

[1:39] Thy faithfulness make to be known, and with my mouth I shall be called to generations all.

[1:54] For mercy shall be built, said I, forever to endure.

[2:11] Thy faithfulness I will ever sing, and with my heart I shall be called to generations all. Thy faithfulness in the heavens, the world is sharp, and with my heart I shall be called to generations all.

[2:26] I shall be called to generations all.

[2:56] God's mercies I will ever sing, and with my heart I shall be called to generations all.

[3:26] Thy faithfulness of Christ, O God, the heavens shall express, and in the congregation, creation all saves thy faithfulness.

[4:08] For who in heaven with the Lord may one's hands compare who is my God among the sons of those that might be alive.

[4:43] Let's try together in prayer. O Lord, our God, as we meet in your name, we seek that you would fill our mouth from on high according to your own promise.

[5:05] As your servant of old approached full of a sense of inadequacy and acknowledging that presence.

[5:23] The presence open your mouth and I will fill it was the assurance that he was given.

[5:35] And numerous of the saints have come without same feeling of total impotence.

[5:48] love and yet they came to the omniscient one who understood all there was to be known about them.

[6:01] They came to the omnipotent one who had the capacity to endow them with wherewithal by which they could fulfill the calling with which he came to them.

[6:24] Whether we think of a Moses or a Daniel or we think of a Paul or a Peter or we think of any of the numerous saints of the New Testament or the Old Testament or modern history even.

[6:47] They did not go out in their own strength or by reason of their own volition. They came and did as the Lord enabled them.

[7:03] And they did as they thought the Lord would have them to do. and that is how your people should live their lives with an eye fixed upon the heavens above so that the God who is the one who is able to speak to them in a way that his voice is not misunderstood or that the voice that they hear is not the voice of another but your voice the voice of the eternal the voice of the one who is high and lifted up may we hear your voice this evening even in the word that is read in our hearing in the world that is sought to be sung and the world that is sought to be proclaimed we pray

[8:08] Lord your blessing upon it and upon our worship and that your people and those who join with him in this act of worship would know the blessing of the most high God so not one of us would go out as we came in not one of us would go out having the thought that we were engaged in a profitless exercise but that we received from the hand of the God who has ample fear for all need that we would realize that this is where we must come even as you have said before us in the table of the gospel the best of fear we give thanks for it and as it attracts our attention to the person who is at the heart of the gospel even Jesus Christ we pray that we might see him for ourselves with the eye of faith remember all who go out with the word this evening knowing that they are engaged in an activity that is ordained from on high we give them the conviction that they need to possess that this is the most onerous of privileges that you have endowed the saints of

[9:37] God with and especially for those who go out fearful with terror gripping their heart because they must do as you have bid them do in situations that puts their very life in jeopardy how many of us know something of that very few but we know that there are teachers and evangelists and ambassadors for Christ who are called throughout the world and their calling has taken them into difficult and treacherous situations where to speak the name of Christ will put their very soul their very being in danger but we give thanks that they are in your hands and we give thanks that those to whom they declare the insercible riches of

[10:42] Christ that you have blessed their labour and that we still read and hear of those who have come to faith in the most unlikely of settings men and women young and old who hear the gospel trumpet sounded clearly and unambiguously taking these very people from the snare of idolatry from the darkness of ignorance into the marvelous light of the countenance of the most high God oh lord we pray that we too would know something of that not because we deserve it but because we are in your hands and you would in mercy draw them to yourself they are no different to what many of us were until you came into our lives we were so smugly satisfied with what we had when all we had was nothing better than the fear that was set before the prodigal when he would fail each of the husks that were to be fed to the pigs this was great fear for us but it was the poison the very poison to our being lord help us to see how much we need

[12:41] Christ to magnify his very presence amongst us bless the labors of your people bless the witness and the testimony they bear to Christ bless every occasion that they find opportune moments to speak of their saviour to any and all who would hear something about him even those who would push them away may they be emboldened and persuaded that he has to be seen and heard and even those who have little by way of skill in speaking the truth in love may they speak the truth with their very lives so those who see them will know that there is a change wrought in them for good and they live out that in the way that they deport themselves in the workplace in the community in the very homes in which they reside so remember your people with all their varying needs remember the broken hearted the sorrowful those who are ridden with care and concerns remember those who struggle with illness those who struggle with the illness of others we pray for them oh lord that you would carry them as you are able to carry their burdens with with something to speak that speaks of the truth of

[15:42] God that that is what will bring lasting peace so hear our prayers and bless your gathering bless your word to us grant mercy for the many sins that are bound in our hearts and in our lives cleanse them away we pray through the blood of the everlasting lamb in whose name we ask all things amen we're going to sing from psalm 79 from verse 5 to 10 psalm 79 from verse 5 to 10 how long lord shall thine anger last will grow us to keep the same shall thy fev and jealousy burn like unto a flame on heathen pour thy fury forth are thee never known and on those kingdoms which thy name have never called upon for these are they who

[16:46] Jacob have devoured cruelly and they his habitation have caused waste to lie against his mind not former sins thy tender mercy so let them prevent us speedily for we brought very low for thy name's glory help us lord who has their saviour been deliver us for thy name's sake oh purge of their sin why say the heathen where their god let let him to them be known when those who shed thy servants blood are in our sight or throne so on these verses and 79 from verse 5 through to 10 how long lord shall thine anger last will thou still keep the same how long lord shall thine anger last without still keep the same how shall thy men of jealousy find thy guns throughout way on his and for thy fury for that hath thee never known and on those kingdoms which thy name have never called called upon for this are the who take off how give a earth to thee and his salvation have a cause the whisper wine against us might not for our sins thy tender mercy showctions 오래耳 hear

[19:47] Haw thatический till sa biodiversity he in the sweep of Who hath so persecuted me.

[20:03] Believe us for thine, sing, all part shall wither sing.

[20:19] Why say the need of words that God led to them behold?

[20:35] When those who shed thy steadfast word are in thy sight for all.

[20:55] We're going to hear God's word as we have it in the New Testament. Paul's epistle to the Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3.

[21:10] Reading from the beginning. Return to verse 14.

[21:22] O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you.

[21:38] This only would I learn of you. Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit?

[21:51] Are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain? Ye therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

[22:12] Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, know ye therefore that they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham.

[22:24] And the Scripture, for saying that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

[22:38] So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the Lord to them.

[22:57] But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident, for the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth then shall live in them.

[23:14] Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is everyone that timeth on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

[23:36] And so on. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word and to his name. Be the praise. Let us sing from Psalm 146.

[23:47] Psalm 146. And we're singing from verse 5. To the end. Verses 5 to 10. O happy is that man unblessed, whom Jacob's God doth aid, whose hope upon the Lord doth rest, and on his God disdain, who made the earth and heavens high, who made the swelling deep, and all that is within the same, who truth doth ever keep, who righteous judgment executes, for those oppressed that be, who to the hungry giveth food.

[24:25] God sets the prisoners free. The Lord doth give the blind their sight, the bow down doth raise. The Lord doth dearly love all those that walk in upright ways.

[24:38] The stranger's shield, the widow's stay, the orphan's help is he. But yet by him, the wicked's way turned upside down shall be.

[24:49] The Lord shall reign forevermore. Thy God, O Zion, he, reigns to all generations. Praise to the Lord, give ye.

[25:00] These verses, Psalm 146, verse 5 to the end, O happy is that man and blessed, whom Jacob's God doth aid.

[25:11] O happy is that man and blessed, whom Jacob's God doth aid, whose hope upon the dark address, and loved his God is King, who made the earth of heaven's high, who will sweat in his feet, and all the gifts within the same, who will сто.

[26:09] Who are the righteous, given food, God sets the prisoners free.

[26:49] The Lord and the people by their side, the Father and the God raised.

[27:05] The Lord can hear the people that walk in the bright winds.

[27:22] The stranger shared the withers' day. The ark of heaven will see.

[27:38] The dead by heaven the wicked sway. Turned us like dust shall be.

[27:54] The Lord shall bring all yearmore thy blood shall die on thee.

[28:11] Praise to the Lord generations. Praise to the Lord give me.

[28:28] I'd like us to turn for a short while to the passage read. Paul's epistle to the Galatians.

[28:40] Galatians 3. Galatians 3. Chapter 3. Verse 6.

[28:51] Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same as the children of Abraham, but the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be blessed.

[29:12] So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

[29:31] For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. You remember that we have been working our way through this epistle, and we considered some of the reasons that Paul had for writing this epistle.

[29:58] Firstly, we have come across how he was responding to the criticisms that were made that were of a personal nature.

[30:11] He was passionately vilified, and his apostleship was called into question. He secondly had to refute the false doctrines that were propagated amongst the people.

[30:33] false doctrines that were the byproduct of teachers who did not fully understand the gospel.

[30:48] And if we are sympathetic towards them, that is probably the best way of describing it. We could say that they were genuine believers who were mistaken and taught error.

[31:07] But in all likelihood they were not believers at all, but they had secreted themselves into the church, and they were endeavouring to take the people of God aside.

[31:24] And they were insisting that Christian converts should return to the former practices that they had as Jews.

[31:44] And that they couldn't be properly considered Christian if they had not or did not continue with the practice that were condemned by the apostle.

[32:01] And thirdly, which is I suppose, all these things are important. Paul had to defend himself.

[32:12] Paul had to put up a staunch resistance against error. But he wanted most of all to preach Christ.

[32:24] He wanted people to know about the Lord Jesus Christ. And he wanted to preach that gospel himself, to declare it to all unsundry, and to insist on the experience of coming to faith in Jesus Christ in order to save their souls.

[32:49] Paul had to defend himself, to be able to defend himself, and to be able to defend himself. I want us this evening to look at this section of the epistle, which I suppose has in it a burden that Paul has when he sees a son who have previously declared an interest in Christ, when he sees them reverting to dependence upon the very things that Christ has saved them from.

[33:20] namely, seeking the favour of God through the fulfilment of the law.

[33:32] So the first thing that we can consider this evening is this. What do we understand by the works of the law, which Paul sees so heinous?

[33:48] You wouldn't think that that would be the case. He would, as a former Jew who was a teacher of the law, surely he would be at least willing to exalt the law, in the sense that he knew the benefits of it, and he understood how important the law is as God's law.

[34:20] Because that is the law that he is talking about. He is talking about the law of God. But in what sense is he speaking about the law of God?

[34:33] Well, when Paul speaks of the law, perhaps he is more interested in those who want to go back to the ceremonial law rather than the moral law.

[34:45] But what he understands by it is that the Lord God has revealed through the law his own will for mankind.

[34:58] It is through the law that he discloses who he is and what his intentions are and what they need to understand by it.

[35:10] His revealed will is the law of God, we are told, is summarily comprehended in the moral law, in the Ten Commandments.

[35:23] And Paul's argument here is this, that if the intention of the person is to seek God's favour by fulfilling the law, even as it is summarised in the moral law, then they are not going to succeed.

[35:48] They are incapable of doing that. It could be briefly summarised like that. If you do not keep the whole law, every jot and tittle thereof, you will be guilty of the whole.

[36:11] That's where the quotation from Deuteronomy comes from. Curse it is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

[36:26] And fail on one point and you fail on them all. And to prove that is indeed the case, what Paul does is he describes the fate of those who fail to do so.

[36:47] Now we might not think ourselves to be in that same boat. But very often that is how we act by nature.

[37:02] We find ourselves confronted with a statement such as this, the one given by the apostle. And we say, well I've kept the law.

[37:19] I've kept the law. And it may be that in your mind, in your heart you are saying, well that's it, I'm not really. I just reduce it to the Ten Commandments and you are saying, well I've kept the Ten Commandments.

[37:37] I have no God but the God that I was raised with. The God of the Bible. The God Jehovah. That is my God.

[37:48] I have no other. I have never stolen. I have never committed adultery. I have never killed anyone.

[37:59] And to your way of thinking that is perfectly true. You are morally upright and your life is consistent with that belief.

[38:14] But Paul believes otherwise. Because he understands that the law is far more than a literal application of it.

[38:26] There is more to it than that. And when we think of the law and even if there is a suspicion in our mind that we may not have been as consistent in our application of it across the board as we should.

[38:52] And the next step for us is to do this. To say, well I've done my best. I've endeavoured to the best of my ability. And God knows that we are in a foreign world.

[39:05] And God understands that everybody in this world is in the same boat. With much of a likeness to each other.

[39:16] All God has faults or failings. But you see, what Paul is saying, that doesn't really matter as far as God is concerned.

[39:29] Because as far as his law is concerned, what he requires is a perfect obedience because the law is perfect. God's law, according to the psalmist, is perfect.

[39:46] And it brings to our attention the fact that the soul that lies in sin is not perfect. That's how the psalmist describes it.

[39:59] And whether we are aware of this problem or not, whether we have persuaded ourselves that this problem is not really a problem.

[40:11] It's more of a theological thing than a practical thing. The truth of the matter as far as Paul is concerned is this.

[40:22] That the God who is holy, whose law it is, requires the perfection that is consistent with the character of the lawmaker.

[40:35] Anything less than that is a breach of that law. Something that offends the lawmaker, offends God himself.

[40:47] And that is something that we are not too happy with. If we by nature are trying to reconcile, we are trying to square a circle as it were, we cannot go against what the Bible is clearly saying.

[41:04] We might not like it, but like it or not, this is how things are. And when we read down in this passage, the apostle is saying to us, For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse.

[41:27] Anything and everything that is inconsistent with the perfect obedience commanded by God, exposes them to God's displeasure.

[41:38] And God's displeasure is revealed in the curse that he introduced into the experience of fallen man. And you may say that's not fair.

[41:52] It wouldn't be fair if that was the end of it. And Paul explained to us that that is not the end of it. He has made provision for the sinner who is incapable of being obedient to God, by directing him to one who is.

[42:13] And that is something we are going to come to. I remember when I was in holiday, once or twice I have been to Ireland. And I went to, well we went as a family to a place called Waterford.

[42:30] Waterford. And some of you will know the name Waterford. There is a famous glass factory there. And if you ever get a chance to go to Waterford and see the glass factory, it's a very interesting place.

[42:48] But Waterford Cut Glass Crystal is a very high spec product.

[42:59] And if the minute you go into the factory shop, you'll find that you need deep pockets to buy anything in there. The glass decanters and glasses and the beautiful decorations that are very ornate and very skillfully made.

[43:20] But the Shawi section of the shop and in that section there are more cheaply available glass products.

[43:35] But when you go and look at them, you can't really see much wrong with them. But there is something wrong with them because they are seconds. And what makes them seconds is that they are imperfect.

[43:49] They are mired. On the face of it they look fine. But they have flaws. And the maker of these glass products knows that there are flaws.

[44:03] And because of the special place that Waterford Crystal has, and there is any other product of the same kind, they feel a duty to preserve the integrity of their product by marking them as being imperfect.

[44:25] Lest the person who purchases them is disappointed. Now you can understand what's happening there. You can see that. This is just a factory like many, which produces a product that is sold on the open market.

[44:44] And yet if it doesn't achieve the standard and the quality that is looked for, it is marked down accordingly. It's marked imperfect.

[44:56] It doesn't serve the purpose for which it was originally meant. Now, you can accept that. I am sure if you went to such a place and you paid out your money, and you were given something that demanded the full price from you for something that was a second, you would know that was not fair.

[45:23] That wasn't right. It wasn't proper. And yet when you come to dealing with the God of gods, the one who is high and lifted up, who is holy, holy, holy.

[45:38] And when it comes to his law, which is perfect, yet we come to him and said, Oh, well, you want to give me whatever it is that the law keeper requires to give to all who keep his law.

[45:56] Without me really keeping the law. Without me really fulfilling the righteousness that the law demands. How wrong do you think that is?

[46:09] Now what Paul is telling us here is this. This is the illusion that some people are possessed by.

[46:22] That they can in some way do something that God will be pleased with. While at the same time clearly display in their life their inability to do the very thing that they expect.

[46:41] The very standard that they understand exists without them actually attaining to it. Shorter catechism says to us this.

[46:53] About the law. No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God. But does daily break them in thought, word and deed.

[47:09] Now that's quite a, an all encompassing statement about you and about me as far as the keeping of God's laws concerned.

[47:24] And we have to remember that when we sit in judgment of others. And we do. We do it as if we were free from the guilt or the stain of a breach of any law or command.

[47:40] As if we were in some way excused. Whereas others who have broken the law in whatever way we've identified. That allows us to feel good because we haven't broken that particular law in that particular way.

[47:56] That we feel righteous and we feel above reproach. When the reality is the way God explains the law to us.

[48:08] If we break the law in one point we break it in all. Even if we kept the law in nine points and broke it in one. We're guilty of all.

[48:20] And the reality is we're not even able to keep one. Let alone nine. And what does that have to do with us?

[48:31] Well we are told by Paul. That it is at this very point. Because we have broken God's law. And because we are guilty before God.

[48:43] And God says to us that the law as far as he is concerned is broken by us. Then that exposes us to his condemnation. And that condemnation is embraced in this one word.

[48:57] That we are under his curse. The strong word is curse. Being under the curse of God.

[49:09] It's a terrible thought. That if you live your life here in this world under God's curse. It's one thing to think of it simply as God being disappointed in you.

[49:23] You've all perhaps I remember in school having a teacher walk their finger at me and say, Well I'm disappointed in you. I didn't expect you to do this or not do that.

[49:36] And it's a feeling of displeasure. A feeling of shame because you're exposed to that kind of sadness on the part of the person who's walking the finger at you.

[49:54] But this is not God just saying, I'm disappointed in you. God is saying to this fallen race of ours. You are exposed to the holy ire of God for this time and for eternity.

[50:13] I've often used the Puritan John Owen. John Owen. Because very often he's somebody who is exhaustive in the way that he deals with theological points.

[50:30] He goes into the minutiae of detail. And that's why so many people find his writing so tiresome. Because he delves into the matter to the eighth degree.

[50:46] And when he's talking about the curse of God, he explains it in several ways. He says the curse is seen in the displeasure of God in the temporal sphere as well as the eternal sphere.

[51:06] In the guilt that belongs to the person who's in breach of God's law. The breach brings the guilt and the guilt brings the condemnation.

[51:19] And the condemnation is described in God's curse. And because of his displeasure, because of his holy anger, because of his wrath, because of the curse, it is focused in depriving the individual who were created in his image for the possession of his favour.

[51:47] Deprived of that favour. Deprived of that grace in any meaningful way. And the various experiences those who are under God's curse come face to face with from time to time, when their conscience is burdened, when their fear is kindled, and when their understanding of the implications of wrongdoing are brought home to them by the work of the Holy Spirit in them.

[52:25] And I wonder, how many of us actually feel that we are the focus of the curse of God?

[52:40] You would argue perhaps that surely if such a thing exists, surely if the law of God has brought a curse into my experience, I would feel a curse at it, I would feel, be sensitive to it.

[52:58] I would have some kind of awareness of it. Well, I don't think that necessarily follows.

[53:10] As we understand from many experiences that we may have had in our lifetime, we are not always aware of the consequences of wrongdoing.

[53:26] We may drive our car up a one-way street, totally oblivious to the fact that it is a one-way street. That doesn't mean that it is not a one-way street.

[53:38] The fact that we are unaware of it does not mean that we haven't broken the law. The law says this way and this way only, but we have gone there without realizing it, and whether we realize it or not, we have broken the law.

[53:56] How many other areas in our life could we say the same? And we are blissfully unaware of the consequences if discovered. But God in His measure has revealed the consequences to us.

[54:11] And here we have it in the context of Abraham. Now, we are told about Abraham.

[54:22] Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

[54:35] And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

[54:47] So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Now, Paul would say that to the Jew, and the Jew would say amen to that.

[54:59] Because the Jew is a descendant of Abraham. And because they believe themselves to be in the bloodline of Abraham, they would claim for themselves the blessings of Abraham because of their relationship to him, which is one of blood.

[55:20] But that's not where Paul is laying emphasis. He's not laying emphasis on their pedigree, genealogically, but their pedigree, which is one of faith.

[55:34] That's where Abraham's blessing came from. He was blessed by God because he believed God.

[55:45] And he believed God as far as Paul is concerned. He believed God in the gospel. And the gospel had yet to be preached. They are not amazing. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same as the children of Abraham, and the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham.

[56:12] Because it is the belief that is in Christ Jesus, the alone Savior of sinners, that was required even in the life of the patriarch Gabriel.

[56:29] That he believed in God. That he believed in his son Jesus Christ. That he believed that God was going to provide a lamb for himself. That he believed that God was going to deliver him from the consequence of law breaking.

[56:45] And he was justified by it. In other words, he was saying about Abraham, Abraham was delivered from the curse of a broken law. Abraham stood before the judge and the judge said, You are acquitted because you have believed that I have made a provision that will save you.

[57:08] And that's the gospel that Paul is setting before us here. He is laying emphasis not on Abraham as somebody unique in the sense that he originated in a part of the world that God favored him.

[57:26] The only favor that God showed him was because of his relationship of faith to himself. And the emphasis in this passage is on our powerlessness before God.

[57:45] Our inability to please God that leaves us dependent upon his grace. And what left Abraham dependent upon his grace was his own powerlessness.

[57:57] His own inability to do anything but what God condemned. Which was break the law. God was pointing him to himself and the provision that he was making in Christ Jesus.

[58:17] So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham he says. In thee shall all nations be blessed as a double blessing there.

[58:30] Obviously because from the loins of Abraham would come a Messiah perhaps. That is what he is talking about.

[58:41] I read a story a long time ago about someone who had a watch. In the days when there were watches.

[58:52] Everybody today has got a watch that is mostly driven by battery power. And you take the insides out and all you have got is this wee thing.

[59:05] And it is the same thing in most watches. Just a wee digital or battery powered mechanism. It is even too complicated for that.

[59:17] In the older days when watches were made with cogs and wheels that needed to work with springs and so on.

[59:32] And the skill used to put them together was clearly in evidence. It wasn't the watchmaker. The horologist was somebody who knew how to do that.

[59:44] And this man had this precious watch. I don't know if it was precious because it was gold. Or it was precious because of who gave it to him. But the watch broke. And he went to a watchmaker and the watchmaker repaired it.

[59:56] But it was no sooner repaired than it broke again. He went to somebody else thinking well this person might know best how to do it. And the same thing happened.

[60:07] He got the watch back. It was working for a time but it broke again. And the third time the same thing. This time he said to himself I'll sort it myself. These people don't know what they're doing.

[60:20] So he opened it. And when he opened it he found something written on the inside of it. It was the name of the maker.

[60:31] It was the name of the maker. And when he read the name of the maker. He thought well if I send it to the maker. The maker will probably have a better idea of what's going wrong.

[60:46] And that's what he did. He sent the watch to the maker. And from that day it never lost a second.

[60:57] It's a simple story. It's a simple story. And it is a story. But in effect that's what Paul is doing. He is telling them. Look.

[61:08] The law is broken. You are breaking it. Every day of your life. In thought. In word. And in deed. Nothing that you can do is going to change that.

[61:21] And I know that. And I want you to know it. But I have made provision for you. In the passion of Jesus Christ. And this chapter is going to explain.

[61:33] What that provision entails. He's going to explain to us. How the curse of a broken law.

[61:45] Is going to be removed. How the curse of a broken law. Is going to be dealt with. And it's not going to remain.

[61:56] And the passion who is under the curse. Is going to be delivered for it. And the only passion who can do that. Is the one. Who is our Lord and our maker.

[62:09] It's a simple gospel fact. If you are offended. By the gospel. Then that offense. You understand.

[62:21] Is because. Well you have to ask yourself. Why am I offended by the gospel? Why am I offended by what God tells me? I was reading. Comments on the.

[62:33] Westminster confession of faith. And. The divisions that came into being in the church. In the church. Over. In recent. Centuries.

[62:44] And how. Difficult it was. By. On the part of Christians. To. To accept. The teaching.

[62:55] That Paul has to bring to our attention here. The extent. Of the fall. And the damage that the fall. Has brought into our experience.

[63:07] Our. To. To make it. To make it. To make it. To make it. To make it. To make it. Our instinct. Is to somehow. Be able.

[63:18] To lay claim. To something. Well. I did that. Because I had to do it. And because I did it. Then. God is. Saying to me.

[63:29] Well done. Well done. and the truth that Paul is saying here is this even Abraham the father of the faithful what did he do?

[63:43] well even Abraham believed God as Abraham believed God what did he believe?

[63:55] well God told Abraham like he tells us that there is only one way by which a sinner can be saved there is only one way by which a sinner can be justified in the presence of a holy God if you believe that if your faith is such that you believe that then you'll forsake everything else you'll abandon everything else every plank that you shipwreck life is laying hold of for your salvation and you'll trust in the one who has made that provision for us and we'll see God willing next Lord's Day what that entails let us pray Lord our God we give thanks for the person of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the holy one the righteous one the one who sits at your right hand and who is there by virtue of what he has done on our behalf and we give thanks that he is of righteousness we pray that you would bless your word to us this evening and you're blessed throughout the world and that all who present Christ would see souls be drawn to him forsaking all others and embracing the one and holy saviour of sinners here is in his name forgive us all sin in him

[65:23] Amen we're concluding Psalm 68 Psalm 68 at verse 18 Thou hast O Lord most glorious ascended up on high and in triumph victorious led captive captivity thou hast received gifts for men for such as did rebel even for them that God the Lord in midst of them might dwell blessed be the Lord who is to us of our salvation God who daily with his benefits as plenteously doth load he of salvation is the God who is our God most strong and unto God the Lord from death the issues do belong these verses Thou hast O Lord most glorious ascended up on high Thou hast O Lord most glorious

[66:28] Thou hast O Lord most glorious blessed be the Lord who is to us of our salvation God for such as did repent yea, for them that God the Lord in midst of them might dwell blessed be the Lord who is to us of our salvation God blessed be the Lord who live and will will of us of our salvation God blessed be the Lord who lives of our salvation God all thanks of vigil heard who did we win his bale with his rem yes as plenteously as Lord.

[67:54] The observation is the God who is a God for strong and unto God the Lord from death he ensures to belong.

[68:27]  May we grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit rest and abide with you all never and always. Amen.