Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/callanish/sermons/9184/worthy-of-this-calling/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] In the worship of God, we shall sing to his praise from Psalm 18, Psalm 18 and from the beginning, first six stanzas.

[0:18] The evil I love, O Lord, my strength, my fortress is the Lord, my rock, and he that doth to me deliverance afford, my God, my strength, whom I will trust, a bugler unto me, the horn of my salvation, and my high tower is he.

[0:41] Upon the Lord, who worthy is of praises, will I cry, and then shall I preserved be, safe from mine enemy. Floods of ill men have fractured me, death's pangs about me went.

[0:56] Hell sorrows me environed, death's snares did me prevent. In my distress I called on God, cry to my God to die.

[1:07] He from his temple heard my voice, to his ears came my cry. The earth as affrighted, then did shake, trembling upon its east.

[1:18] The hell's foundations moved where, because he was displeased. We shall sing these verses 1 through to 7 of Psalm 18.

[1:30] Thee will I love, O Lord, my strength, my fortress is the Lord. Thee will I love, O Lord, my strength, my fortress is the Lord.

[1:58] My rock and game, Meta God to me.

[2:09] It is the cross of the Lord. My God, my Savior, I am the cross.

[2:29] Above and to me, the heart of my salvation.

[2:46] And my eyes are missing. Upon the Lord who are theest.

[3:06] All the bridges will I cry. And then shall I dicen McCarthy.

[3:25] Sanct sensitive knits. I so will men die at me.

[3:44] Yet I chose me when, as I stormed me yet tasted the нош writers', yet Christian came with me.

[4:08] In my distress I call the Lord Right to my God's good life In all this temple had my voice Till this hill sheds my sky The earth of such a temptation And bring us all this years The earth of such a temptation

[5:09] Turn away because he was his peace Let us join together in prayer Let us pray Oh Lord our God as we continue in your presence We give thanks that we can call upon the name of our God And that though it appears to many that there is a vast expanse Between us here in the world and God in heaven above That we do not appreciate when these thoughts dominate our thinking That you are a God who is ever present That you are always where we are

[6:12] Whether we are aware of your being there or not There is a sense in which you can make your presence That you are always aware of your presence That we are aware of your presence That we are aware of your presence That we can know that the ground upon which we stand is holy ground But there is never an occasion when you are not in our presence And we endure We give thanks for your omniscience That you have a knowledge of us that is complete That there is no lack to it You know our past You know our present You know our future You know what is going on in our heart of hearts You know our cares and concerns Our fears Great and small You know that the things that We Have in our lives That ought not to be there You know that we have idols

[7:13] Whether we Acknowledge them as such or not You know of them You know of the way that they can intrude between us And the only living and true God We give thanks for your persistence In bringing us To your foostle That we may learn what it is To take these idols And to To put them Out of our lives By your grace When we read of the Old Testament Saints We know that there were occasions When there were Submissions To The influence of Idols And The Surrender to them Places and Feelings and Desires that ought to be uniquely used Confess Lord that we are no different And we find that Not an excuse

[8:13] But We do confess it as you have brought it to light in our lives We pray for Your people With all their temptations Various As they may be We give thanks for every temptation that you have Allowed for them A way of escape We pray that we would avail ourselves of it And that we would turn from sin to yourself That we would enjoy the privilege of Of repentance unto life Which is a saving grace That our tears would be genuine tears of Of regret And Of An awareness of the The terribleness of sin In whatever way it Manifests itself in our life We pray that you would remember us As a people Remember our congregation here And all who have formed part of it We pray for the youngest to the oldest

[9:16] We pray for the members We pray for the adherents Those who Are a very Living Vibrant part of your congregation And those who are on the periphery Those who have a Living interest in Christ And those who Who are like others Who have allowed coldness To come into their experience Pray for those who have yet to enjoy The Reality of the love of Christ And we pray for them That they may be drawn in Embraced in the everlasting arms Allow to rest in the In the fullness of the love That is in the embrace of a Saviour We pray that you would remember All who are unwell amongst us The frail elderly Those who are Confined to their homes Those who Are cared for by others Within their homes Or within Homes appointed to that end Remember those who are Under the care of doctors

[10:16] Or nurses We pray your blessing To be upon the care Shown to them Remember Lord Those who Who are raising children In our communities Who have to be mindful Of the effects that Have influenced Their lives at this time As it has influenced The lives of so many As Covid has affected Our island Albeit in a remote way It still influences The education of our children Influences the interaction There is within our communities Influences the gospel witness Of your church here on earth We give thanks for the medium That allows us to communicate Christ to those who would Hear often We pray that That number would be Kept Up And that it would be Increased That those who would Find longings and yearnings

[11:18] In their heart That they would Find expression for them By turning to your word And whoever speaks it In love In your name May the word To them be blessed Guide us to Christ We pray May we hear What he has to say to us As the author and finisher Of our faith We give thanks For the testimony That he bears According to our need He tells us Why we need him He tells us why We need salvation He tells us why We need a redeemer He tells us why Our lives are short He tells us why Heaven is before us And hell is to be sinned We give thanks Lord For the experience Of the gospel And all who have Proclaimed it In their lives Up until the present We pray that you would Bless the preaching Of the word To the far corners Of the earth Remember those who Govern us Remember the royal household We pray for the first minister

[12:19] We pray for the prime minister The various parliaments We pray that you would Watch over us As a nation As we see the outcome Of COVID Once again So devastating We pray that those Engaged in the care Of others That they would be Upheld That their exhaustion Would be kept at bay That the intensity With which they must Carry out their duties Would not be the result Of they themselves Succumbing To the virus Or something worse We pray that you would In mercy Continue to provide For us resources That will be ultimately Used for the For the betterment Of those who have Succumbed to it And for the healing Of those who Are in danger Of losing their lives We pray for those Who are mourning The loss Of loved ones At the beginning Of this new year We pray That you would

[13:20] Sanctify it to us That we might not Be ignorant Of your Good will Towards us We know that The enemy of our soul Is at work We know that He stimulates Interest in things That are working Against your gospel We pray Lord That you would Thwart him By your grace That you would Allow your people The grace by which To stand against him That he may flee From them That they may resist The wiles of the devil Because he is constantly Seeking whom he may devour As a roaring lion He goes about We are told So remember Those that are His prey Keep us safe We ask Remember Preachers of the gospel Remember the nations Of the earth Whatever predicament Whatever They have to contend With we give thanks That you are the God Of all So hear our petitions

[14:21] Continue with us At this time Forgiving our sins In Jesus name Amen We are going to hear The word of God As we have it In Paul's second epistle To the Thessalonians And reading from The first chapter Second Thessalonians Chapter 1 Paul and Silvanus And Timotheus And to the church Of the Thessalonians In God our Father And the Lord Jesus Christ Grace unto you And peace From God our Father And the Lord Jesus Christ We are bound to thank God Always for you Brethren As it is meet Because that your faith Groweth exceedingly And the charity Of every one of you All towards each other Aboundeth So that we ourselves Glory in you In the churches of God For your patience And faith In all your persecutions

[15:23] And tribulations That you endure Which is a manifest token Of the righteous judgment Of God That you may be counted Worthy of the kingdom Of God For which ye also suffer Seeing it as a righteous thing With God To recompense Tribulation To them That trouble you And to you Who are troubled Rest with us When the Lord Jesus Shall be revealed From heaven With his mighty angels In flaming fire Taking vengeance On them That know not God And that obey not The gospel Of our Lord Jesus Christ Who shall be punished With everlasting destruction From the presence Of the Lord And from the glory Of his power When he shall come To be glorified In his saints And to be admired In all of them That believe Because our testimony Among you Was believed In that day Wherefore also

[16:24] We pray always for you That our God Would count you Worthy of this calling And fulfil all the good Pleasure of his goodness And the work Of faith With power That the name Of our Lord Jesus Christ May be glorified In you And you in him According to the grace Of our God And the Lord Jesus Christ And so on down May the Lord Add his blessing To this reading Of his word To his name Be the praise Sam Gordon In a commentary That he has On the first and second epistle Of Thessalonians He entitles it Hope and Glory And the subtitle Jesus is coming again The timeless message

[17:26] Of one and two Thessalonians And it is indeed A dominant theme Of both epistles Beginning in the first And carried through Into the second The return of Christ He says Is imminent In this first chapter We have a very graphic Description of the Judgment aspect Of the return Of the Lord The reason for this Description is simply To encourage those Who are experiencing Persecution And the troubles That accompany The gospel believer Paul is deeply Grateful To God That the signs Are good Concerning them In verse 3 We read We are bound To thank God Always for you Brethren As it is meet Because of you That your faith

[18:27] Groweth Exceedingly And the charity Of every one of you All towards each other Aboundeth There is Evidence Of growth Growing faith Love Abounding And patient Endurance Even in the midst Of the persecution Of which he speaks But he still Recognises The need There is To remind them To continue In this And that no matter What Their eternal Destiny Was Secure As was the glory Christ had Through them And the righteous Judgment That awaited Those who Were their Oppressors There are a few Things that Paul Says here That should be An encouragement To us As believers

[19:27] And especially As believers Who are going On in the Life of faith First of all That God Would call us Worthy of this Calling He says Wherefore also We pray Always for you That our God Would call you Or count you Worthy of this Calling Secondly That There would be A That we would Fulfill All the good Pleasure Of his Goodness And the work Of faith With power And then Thirdly That the name Of our Lord Jesus Christ Be glorified In you He says And Fourthly That you May be glorified In him

[20:28] And both Of them According to The grace Of our God And our Lord Jesus Christ First of all Then That God Would call you Worthy of this Calling The first Thing we have To do Is establish What is he Referring to When he uses The words Of this Calling The reason Why we need To do that Is simple Given the Situation We're in We may be Tempted to Argue That this Calling that Paul speaks Of is Only Referring To the Particular Straits In which They found Themselves As those Who are Currently Being Persecuted God The God Of Providence Having Ordained Such

[21:28] Persecution For them The context Plainly Argues Against That For it Refers Not only To the Current Life Of faith But also To its End The word Translated Calling Is frequently If not Always Used to Speak Of the Gospel Call For example In Paul's First Epistle To the Corinthians In the First Chapter Paul Here Speaks Of His Own Calling The Jews He says Require A sign And The Greeks Seek After Wisdom But we Preach Christ Crucified Unto the Jews A Stumbling Block And Unto the Greeks Foolishness But Unto them Which Are Called Both Jews And Greeks Christ The Power

[22:28] Of God And The Wisdom Of God Because The Foolishness Of God Is Wiser Than Men And The Weakness Of God Is Stronger Than Men For You See Your Calling Brethren How That Not Many Wise Men After The Flesh Not Many Mighty Not Many Nobre Are Called And So On So While We Believe That All Their Experiences At The Time Are A Direct Result Of God's Call The Call Embraces None Other Than Just That From Their Effectual Calling By God Spirit From Darkness To Light To Their Eventual Glorification Which We Believe To Be An Inevitable Consequence Of God's Call To Them But If That Is The Case Where Does

[23:28] The Worthiness Come In Remember Again He Says That God Would Count You Worthy Of This Calling When We Use The Word Worthy We Cannot Do So Without Thinking That Worthy In That Use Of The Word Usually Means That There Is Some Sense Of Deservedness Involved There The Concept Of Worthiness Is Alien To Everyone Who Is Subject To The Call Of God As God's Creatures We Are Bound To Serve Him But Even As We Endeavor To Serve God Those Who Give The Most Perfect Service The Most Perfect The Best Service That We Have Been

[24:28] Able To Give We Have To Confess That We Are Unworthy Servants Or We Because Of Our Sin Of Our Sin Because Of Our Sinfulness We Are Incapable Of Fulfilling The Calling To Serve God In The Fulness Of All That It Requires When Paul Writes His Epistle To Timothy We See There In It's In A Second Epistle And The First Chapter Of That Epistle That He Says For God Hath Not Given Us The Spirit Of Fear But Of Power And Of Love And Of A Sound Mind Be Not Therefore Ashamed Of The Testimony Of Our Lord Not Of Me His Prisoner

[25:29] But Be Thou Partaker Of The Afflictions Of The Gospel According To The Power Of God Who Has Saved Us And Called Us With A Holy Calling Not According To Our Works But According To His Own Purpose And Grace Which Was Given Us In Christ Jesus Before The World Began So Where Are We To Look For That Worthy Is We Are To Look For It In The Lives Of Those Who Have It As Fruit Of The Saving Grace That Is Now In Their Lives It Is Grace In The Heart That Transforms The Heart From A Heart Of Stone To A Heart Of Flesh And If The Heart Is Not A Heart Of Flesh The Law Of God Cannot Be In It If The Law Is Not In It Then The Life Cannot Be Regulated By It

[26:29] And A Life Not Regulated By The Word Of God Cannot Be A Life That Is Worthy It It May It May Be That In Some People's Minds What I Am Saying Here Is Cutting Across The Whole Meaning Of Grace But The Scripture Clearly Teaches That The Saint Is Somebody Who Is In A State Of Grace While Not Seeking Life By The Works Of The Law He Still Lives Life According To The Law As If His Very Life Depended Upon It His Righteousness The Lord Christ Said To The To The Disciples That If Their Righteousness Did Not Was Not Better Did Not Exceed The Righteousness Of The Scribes And The Pharisees That They Were Of

[27:29] No Use That It Was Of No Avail To Them The Scripture The Commentator Matthew Poole Says A Christian's Calling Has Duty Annexed To It And When We Look At Paul's Epistle To The Ephesians In Chapter 4 Of That Epistle He Reminds Us Of That Very Thing I Therefore The Prisoner Of The Lord Beseech You That You Walk Worthy Of The Vocation Wherewith You Are Called With All Lowliness And Meekness With Long Suffering For For For For For Bearing One Another In Love Endeavoring To Keep The Unity Of The Spirit In The Bond Of Peace And So On The Second Thing That Paul Says Which

[28:29] Is Clearly Linked With The First Part That We Looking At There It Speaks Of God's Will Towards Them That The Name Of Our Lord Jesus Christ May Be Glorified In You Go Back To Verse 11 Wherefore Also We Pray Always For You That Our God Would Count You Worthy Of This Calling And Fulfill All The Good Pleasure Of His Goodness And The Work Of Faith With Power There Is No Doubt That The Greek Construction Makes It An Awkward Passage To Translate And While I'm Not A Greek Scholar By Any Manor Of Means Far From It I Know To Look At The Various Translations And

[29:30] When You See That There Are Discrepancies In The Way The Divines Translate A Passage You Can Discover There That They Are Trying To Put The Words Of The Apostle Into The Best Possible Order And Sometimes There Is There Is An Awkwardness About The Way That The Greek Is Put Before Us We We We Think On The Basis Of The Strongest And The Most Repeated Evidence That Paul Paul Is Saying That The Result Of God's Goodness To Them And That The Believer's Ultimate Aim

[30:30] Should Be To See To Ensure That That Will Is Not Frustrated In Any Way To That End The Believer Should Be Familiar With What The Will Of God Is For Them And The Scripture Is What Reveals That To Them And To Ensure That By God's Grace That That Will Is Fulfilled In So Far As It Applies To Them The The Writer William Hendrickson In His Own Comments On The Passage States The Following That The Resolution Or That No Resolution That Springs From The Good Disposition Which The Holy Spirit Has Created In Their Souls Be Left Unfulfilled And That No Faith Inspired Work Be Left Unfunished

[31:30] No Faith Inspired Work Be Left Unfunished That Is Something That God Has Given Them To Do In Obedience To Their Understanding Of What God's Will For Them Is We All Know What Is Required Of Us As Christians Well We Should We Know Too Well That We Can Come Short Where When And How Even There May Be Things That We Are Oblivious To To To To It Is Our Duty And Should Be Our Aim In Life How We Can Live Consistently And Live With Perfect And Obedience To To To The Call Of God As It Is Placed Before Us Note

[32:32] What The Apostle Paul Says In Verse 12 That The Name Of Our Lord Jesus Christ May Be Glorified In You He Says This Will Be The End Of All This Christ Will Be Glorified In Them And Also They Will Be Glorified In Him It May Be That You Have No Difficulty With The First Element The Glory And Honor Of His Name But Also Indissolubly Linked With That Is The Glory Of His Church His Glory Is Their Glory Their Glory Is His Glory John The Apostle Is Doing Something Similar To Paul When He Speaks These Words In His First Epistle And I Think It's In Chapter Three He's Writing There Concerning The Work That

[33:33] Is Going On In The Lives Of Those Who Are Believers In The Lord Jesus Christ In Chapter Three And At The Beginning Of That Chapter I Think Beloved Now Are We The Sons Of God And It Does Not Yet Appear What We Shall Be But We Know That When He Shall Appear We Shall Be Like Him For We Shall See Him As He Is And Every Man That Has This Hope In Him Purifies Himself Even As He Is Pure And So On This Is Both Setting Before Them The Hope Of Glory And Their Duty In Preparing For It We're Also Encouraged In Seeing Here The Link Between Christ

[34:33] And His Church His Glory And Their Glory Is Maintained Note Well What He Says In The High Priestly Prayer That He Is Glorified In Them Whatever We Are To Resolve As Christians Who Are Faced With The Future As Many Christians Make A Resolution With Regard To Their Life Of Faith At This Time Of Year Perhaps With A Retrospect In Mind And We Up Themselves And Their Lives In The Lord Jesus They Promise To Be Better Christians To Be More Faithful As Christians But Whatever It Is

[35:33] Surely It Should Involve This That We Be Worthy Of Our Calling Our Calling Fulfilling The Good Pleasure Of His Goodness And The Work Of Faith With Power That His Will For You And In You Be Fulfilled And That Christ Be Glorified In Us May God Encourage Us To Think Of Where We Are With Him And How We Are To Go On With Him That We May Grow And Prosper As His Children Here In This World May Bless His Word To Us Let Us Pray Heavenly Father We Give Thanks That You Are The God Who Is God Over All We Give Thanks For The Encouragement You Give To The Saints That You Have Called Them To Yourself And That Your

[36:34]  Calling Not Only Has Involved Them In Taking Them From Where They Were But To Taking Them To Where They Are Now With The Hope Set Before Them Of Them Being What They As Yet Are Not We Give Thanks For The Goodness And Grace That You Channel In Their Direction That Maintains Them In This Life And Sustains Them In The Midst Of Trial And Persecution We Pray That You Would Remember Your Saints The World Over Continue To Watch Over Us Keeping Our Feet Free From Falling Now Rise Free From Tears Cleanse From Sin And Now May Grace Mercy And Peace From God Father Son And Holy Spirit Be With You All Now And Always Amen