Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/callanish/sermons/14592/children-of-the-day/. 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] Singing to God's praise from Psalm 33. Psalm 33 and at verse 13. And we're singing from verse 13 through to the end. [0:15] Psalm 33. The Lord from heaven sees and beholds all sons of men for well. He views all from his dwelling place that in the earth do dwell. [0:27] He forms their hearts alike and all their doings he observes. Great hosts save not a king. Much strength no mighty man preserves. [0:40] And harsh for preservation is a deceitful thing. And by the greatness of his strength can no deliverance bring. Behold on those that do him fear the Lord doth set his eye. Even those who on his mercy do with confidence rely. [0:58] From death to free their soul. In death life unto them to yield. Our soul doth wait upon the Lord. He is our help and shield. [1:09] Soth in his holy name we trust. Our heart shall joyful be. Lord let thy mercy be on us as we do hope in thee. [1:20] Let us sing these verses. Psalm 33 from verse 13. The Lord from heaven sees and beholds all sons of men for well. [1:30] The Lord from heaven sees and beholds all sons of men for well. [1:47] He views all from his dwelling place that in the earth do dwell. [2:01] He forms their hearts alike and all their doings he observes. [2:18] Great host if not a king. My strength no mighty man preserves. [2:33] And hearts for preservation is a deceitful thing. [2:49] And by the greatness of his strength can no deliverance bring. [3:04] Behold on those that do him fear. The Lord does set his eye. [3:19] In those who all his mercy do with confidence rely. [3:35] From death to free their soul and their life unto them to. [3:49] To yield. Our soul now breaks upon the Lord. He hears our help and shield. [4:06] Soth in his holy name we trust. Thou heart shall joyful be. [4:22] Lord let thy mercy be on us. As we do hope in thee. [4:37] Let's turn together in prayer. Oh Lord our God. As we come before you with words of praise upon our lips. [4:53] we acknowledge that we are indebted to the God who is the giver of every good and perfect gift the one who resides upon the heavens and even the heaven of heavens who sits upon the throne of the universe who abides in eternal glory who enjoys the immeasurable praise and worship of the holy angels who are not in any way hindered from coming into your presence because they are ever in your presence they are not hindered in their praises from offering to you the full extent of the praise that you are worthy of receiving unlike ourselves who often find ourselves embarrassed or ashamed with the language that we use when we think how far short we come of that which we ought to be we bless you and thank you for your grace there is another award once acknowledged in the offering of sacrifice that the praise was used in that you did not mix the blood of the sacrifice with his own we give thanks that when we worship even at this evening hour of worship that you are pleased to receive from us in the name and on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ upon whose sacrifice we rise and whose merits we claim as our own not because we have any right to them but because he has granted to us that we may lay such claim to them by virtue of the relationship of faith that we enjoy with him and for all who can say that they can come unabashed they can come unashamed we pray that you would remember us this evening according to the needs that we have whatever they may be whether our frailties are physical or mental or spiritual whatever these frailties may be you recognise us for what we are you know us as your own creatures you have fallen from that created glory that once [8:12] Mark deserved the highest pinnacle of your own creative power from which we departed in the sins of our parents following after their example and adding to the number of our sins even that sin which will condemn us to everlasting destruction we acknowledge the need that we have to understand the significance of our first parents fall that we cannot escape from seek from it even if we believe ourselves to be free from sin a foolish thought it may be but it is a thought that impresses itself on the heart of many they believe themselves to be independent of any outside adjudication they believe themselves not to have to give account to many but they do not take account of the fact that the day will come when their thinking will be turned on its head that they will find that there is one even the [9:26] God of heaven will bring all to give an account to him for every action done for every thought and for every wayward step that we took we ask Lord that you would bring us to our senses as individuals as congregations as a nation even as nations of the earth when we are daily confronted with all manner of evidence that speaks to us of the dereliction of duty that marks us out as a society and as a generation when we see so many examples that can only be identified and understood to be indications and confirmations of the displeasure of God we pray Lord that you would open the eyes of the blind that you would open the understanding of the ignorant that you would open the way to allow us to see the wisdom that is [10:38] God alone Lord help us to see you as the only wise God the only God who is powerful and mighty not just to uphold this world but to bring it to destruction not only to create this world but to bring this creation to a salvation as you have decreed to do and that day is fast hastening no matter how far we put it from ourselves we pray that you would remember our nation in its foolishness and its dereliction of duty as we said the way we have departed from your word that we have denied the truth of your word that we have put the wisdom of man before the wisdom of God we pray that you would remember us in mercy and that you would heal the very things that speak to us of the corruption of our nature and that which accompanies it remember those affected by illness of all descriptions we may be mindful of one over against another but constantly we are reminded of the fragility of our humanity we're thinking of those who belong to our congregation here who are unwell we pray for them and we pray for their healing we pray for their restoration of health for it is in keeping with your will for them especially mindful of those who are suffering from the ravages of old age confined to their homes or being cared for by others in care homes or in hospital at the present we pray for those who cared for them and who swung the tooth to alleviate their suffering and think of those who have terminal illness to deal with some that we may know some that we know nothing of remember each one before you and pray for your healing hand to be upon them and that spiritual health would be ministered to above all else we pray for those who are grieving and sorrowful as you have visited us in the congregation removing from us one of our office bearers we pray that you would remember his family at this time as the board is passing we give thanks for all that he was to the congregation and we pray that you would raise up others who would be of a like mind willing to serve the [13:34] Lord in this part of your vineyard we remember various congregations of our denomination where such breaches are made your voices heard frequently amongst us and we see that there are great breaches made in the number that bear your name and with all of these all their testimony and witness to your grace in their life at some point you're upholding hand upon them fulfilling your promise with regard to all your people once you take them to be with yourself in this world to be one of the number that bear your name that you will bring them to be yourself be with yourself in the glory that awaits but when you do so you leave the places that are empty and the testimony that has been made to go silent where in your hands with regard to raising up others and we see villages townships congregations that are denuded of witnesses and we cannot see any change to that except it be that you would bear your arm and come down and make known that you are [15:10] God indeed so make us earnest in our desire to see this happening by petitioning the God of heaven and seeing that you come down into our midst in a day of power and our day of quickening remember our wayward nation as we said those who roll over us and those who govern may they learn to govern well we see so little evidence of that but you are able to transform lives and you are able to overturn the wisdom of the wicked remember the places in the world that are suffering hard things at this time by reason of earthquakes by reason of storms and ravages of various meteorological events that are difficult to imagine even though we are made to witness them through the various media that is at our disposal we pray for those who are hungry those who are starving those who are thirsty and yet the vast resources of this planet are at our disposal and the wanton waste that is there for all to see is something for which we must all answer at that day of your choosing here are petitions on those who suffer these injustices even say peace and safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travel upon a woman with child and they shall not escape but ye brethren are not in darkness that the day should overtake you as a thief ye are all the children of light and the children of the day we are not of the night nor of darkness therefore let us not sleep as do others but let us watch and be sober for they that sleep sleep in the night and they that be drunken are drunken in the night but let us who are of the day be sober putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for unhelmet the hope of salvation for [18:48] God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us and whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him wherefore comfort yourselves together and edify one another even as also ye do and we beseech you brethren to know them which labor among you and are over you the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for their work sake and be at peace among yourselves now we exhort you brethren warn them that are unruly comfort the feeble minded support the weak be patient toward all men see that none render evil for evil unto any man but ever follow that which is good both among yourselves and to all men rejoice evermore pray pray without ceasing in everything give thanks for this is the will of [19:55] God in Christ Jesus concerning you quench not the spirit despise not prophesies prove all things hold fast that which is good abstain from all appearance of evil and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it brethren pray for us greet all the brethren with an holy kiss I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you amen the Lord that is blessing to this reading of his word and to his name be the praise [20:59] I'm going to sing now verses from Psalm 13 Psalm 13 I'm going to sing the whole psalm how long wilt thou forget me Lord shall it forever be oh how long shall it be that thou wilt hide thy face from me how long take counsel in my soul still sad in heart shall I how long exalted over me shall be mine enemy oh Lord my God consider well and answer me to me make mine eyes enlighten lest the sleep of death me overtake lest that mine enemy should say against him I prevailed and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved and failed but I have all my confidence thy mercy set upon my heart within me shall rejoice in thy salvation [22:00] I will unto the Lord my God sing praises cheerfully because he hath his bounty shown to me abundantly the whole of psalm 13 to the praise of God how long will thou forget me Lord shall it forever be how long will thou forget me Lord shall it forever be oh how long shall rent be The flood will drive thy fish from me. [22:52] How long did cancer in my soul Still sad and harsh align? [23:07] How long exalted over me Shall be my enemy. [23:25] O Lord, my God, consider well A down-sour to be made. [23:40] My guides that rise And let the sleep Of death be overtaken. [23:56] Lest that my enemy should stay I guess that I prevail Of those that trouble ye rejoice When thy God could not fail. [24:27] But I have all my confidence Thy mercy yet upon My heart within me shall rejoice In thy salvation. [24:59] I will unto the Lord My God Sing graces cheerfully Because ye have this love To me, the God and me. [25:32] We can turn now for a short while To the first epistle of Paul To the Thessalonians chapter 5 And we can read at verse 6 Verse 6 Therefore let us not sleep As do others But let us watch and be sober For they that sleep, sleep in the night And they that be drunken Are drunken in the night But let us who are of the day Be sober Putting on the breastplate of faith And love And for an helmet The hope of salvation For God has not appointed us to wrath But to obtain salvation By our Lord Jesus Christ Who died for us That whether we wake or sleep We should live together with him Wherefore comfort yourselves together And edify one another even [26:34] As also ye do I don't think many of us Write letters today I could be wrong But it's an art that very few practice In our generation There are plenty of people who Write emails perhaps Or write texts Text messages Sometimes we are required to write Formal letters In some capacity or another But letter writing is not something We engage in often anyway I just mention that because When you think about a letter You are thinking [27:35] You have probably got a mindset A description in your mind Of what a letter looks like And if you look at letters That you may have in your possession From a very recent past From a very recent past You will see that they follow A certain form And going back Maybe a generation or two You might not find The form has altered much But when we read The epistles of the apostles It is difficult for us to Reconcile the name that they have Letters written by the apostles To fellow Christians To have an idea of what a letter actually is Because in our minds [28:40] A letter looks like something And appears in a certain way And deals with certain things Of a personal nature more than likely But if we have If we are distracted by such thoughts Then we need really to refocus Our attention on the fact that Paul wrote his letter as an individual To a group of people of a like mind Who had shared experiences Some of them good Some of them bad Some of them enjoyable Some of them less so And he communicates to them Now albeit it is under the direction Of the Holy Spirit [29:42] There is no question about that But it is Paul that is writing And he is writing as a believer As a believer in Christ To fellow believers And what he is seeking Is at times to encourage People that he understands Who are enduring things That he knows all too well Because he himself has endured them Himself Disappointments Distractions Distractions From his calling And from their calling Challenges To the faith that they share together Opposition That they must deal with And the ramifications of such opposition In their experience All of these things All of these things Are contained within the letters [30:44] That Paul writes Maybe when we look at the epistles And we see the chapter divisions We lose sight of that fact Rather more easily But it is a fact Nevertheless That Paul is writing These letters To those he knows Sometimes Sometimes he doesn't know them all that well But he knows something about them And he wants to encourage them In their life as believers Some of you may know the name John Stought He is a well known He has passed away A well known Christian teacher And preacher And conference speaker And at one point He was at Keswick conference I think it was in the 60s or 70s [31:45] And the topic that he was given For the week of lectures That he had there Was lectures on the five chapters Of 1st Thessalonians And Stought was very good At getting to the meat of the matter And he divided his week's talks Into five or four days And his division really tells us What this letter is all about First of all he says It is to do with Christian evangelism How the gospel spreads And when Paul is writing To the Christians He is writing in order To encourage them In their evangelistic desire So that through them The gospel may spread [32:46] Secondly There is the Christian ministry What the minister of the gospel Should be about How the pastor How the preacher How the evangelist Can speak about The word of God And to the people of God Thirdly Thirdly there was the Christian standards What the Christian believer Is required to live by How they can please God And how their lives can be lived To the glory of God And finally And finally What we have in this chapter What is the Christian community How this community of Christian believers [33:47] The Christian believers Ought to live with regard to each other They are to care for each other And they are to be mindful of each other As part of the church family And you find that in verse 11 Where it says Wherefore comfort yourselves together Edify one another Even also as ye do So that is a structure If you like For this whole epistle And it is a very useful structure Now looking at this final chapter There are two main parts To the chapter The first part of it The first part of it If you notice Well really The part that we are wanting to look at This evening Has to do With the Christian Described by the apostle As the children of light That is what a Christian is [34:47] He belongs to the family of God And as one of the family of God And this description Describes them perfectly They are children of light And the final section Has to do with Them being of that family of God But we are looking in particular At what the apostle describes to us From verse 6 onwards Or verse 5 onwards Even ye are all the children of light And the children of the day We are not of the night Not of darkness Now Believers When we have to We can't just I was thinking really In terms of Letter writing And examples that we may have I keep some of the letters [35:49] That I have received For one reason or another I have one still That was written to me When I was in hospital When I was a 10 year old Or an 11 year old Written to me by a classmate And it's a classic But It's a very short letter And in it It describes just one Or two Or three sentences And almost It takes you right back To To To what you were like in school And what the school was like for you Now Looking at what Paul is writing here He is writing to a people who are concerned And one concern that they have is What is going to happen to them If they die before Christ comes And what is going to happen to those Who are alive when Christ comes [36:52] These are issues that are burning issues for them And Paul has to address these fears that they have Are they going to lose out if they die before Christ comes Because the thing is that for them There is no doubt in their mind about Christ coming They are convinced of that He has promised And his promise will be fulfilled But If he is going to come And he hasn't come yet What would happen to them if they die before he comes What will happen to those who have died And he hasn't come And There are all kinds of questions that Arise in their mind concerning that And Paul has to To answer these questions that they have He has to To [37:53] Treat them With With Care Because Their fears are real fears And They are They are in a position Where They are really wanting answers To these Concerns that they have But Paul Tells them that Those who do die And Those who are alive When Christ comes They will be together They will come together And they will be together Forever With the Lord So their concerns at that level Need to be Understood as being Concerns that That he He is Trying to Alleviate But then he moves on Into the beginning of chapter 5 And he He [38:54] He brings before them A different concern That is on the mind of some That Not only is Christ going to come And to bring his own to be with him He is going to come to judge the world And That again Introduces Thinking Where they are concerned about Being ready When Christ comes to judge the world To judge the world What are they going to do In order to be ready When he comes To judge the world And Would it not be better for them If they knew when he was going to come Then they could be better prepared And there is a question for yourself Is that something That you think about If you knew beforehand That Christ was going to come At a certain point In the not too distant future What kind of life would you live? [39:59] How radically Would your life be transformed If you believed That Christ's coming Was imminent? [40:11] Would it be something That would transform your life? Would it be something That made you feel Well I need to do something About what I am doing now In order that When he does come That I am ready Because I know That when he comes I must meet with him Is that the way you think? [40:30] I can't remember It was on my mind When I was looking At it I would look it up Somebody said Well Who was asked The same question What would you do today If you knew Christ was going to come Before the day was out? [40:46] And his answer was simply I would do exactly The same thing That I did yesterday And exactly the same thing That I will do tomorrow Because Whatever I am doing I know that I am doing it In light Of the fact that He is a coming Saviour Well what is it That Paul says That marks out The children of light Would you recognise yourself This evening As one of these Children of light What are the characteristics Of which he speaks That marks out In this chapter? [41:26] Well they are watchful I think This is something that is quite Important to the apostle The apostle Therefore let us not sleep As do others But let us watch And be sober For they that sleep Sleep in the night And they that be drunken Are drunken in the night But let us who are of the day Be sober Putting on the breastplate of faith And love and for our helmet The hope of salvation Watchfulness Is something That marks them out There is no possibility Of a person being watchful If he is asleep That is a simple truth If you are aware of the military Or if you are aware of those who Sailed at sea There was nothing more important And trusted to a soldier Or a sailor Than to be put on watch If you are a sailor If you are a sailor [42:28] And you were on watch You are required to keep your eye on the compass Or if that is where your watch was placed You looked for any sea dangers that could approach the sea or whatever But your duty was important and you were required to keep that watch And failure to keep that watch was very seriously reprimanded Similarly for the soldier If they were on watch They watched as if their very lives depended on it I have told this story often A story that was told to me by an old Christian Who had held it from an older Christian In her own congregation in Shawpost And it came from the late Mordo MacAver Who was a minister there in the early 1900s [43:33] And his experience was a first-hand experience He was at a communion in North Lochs I think it was One of the Lochs congregations Whatever he was preaching Somebody approached him at the end of the sermon And he had been a soldier Who had served in the First World War And as a soldier He remembered being engaged in a battle that lasted three years Three days And as you can imagine When the battle was raging for three days Sleep was not something that was possible They couldn't lie down to sleep They couldn't sleep They couldn't sleep Standing was the enemy It was at their At their At their noses virtually But he gave He gave these three things As an illustration of what kept him going [44:35] He said three things That he always kept before his mind As he ensured that he remained watchful The first was the honour of his king The second was the honour of his regiment And the third was his own personal honour or reputation Three things And for the Christian Watchfulness takes in all of these The honour of the king The honour of his lord The honour of his lord The honour of the saviour The honour of Christ's church on earth And the honour of the believer himself Watchfulness requires that If you are aware of it If you are sensitive to it Then you are doing what the apostle is saying here This is what marks out a believer We are not of the night [45:39] Or darkness Therefore Paul says We are not like these people who fall asleep We are not like these people who are careless About their duties We are children of the light We are not of the night We are children of the day And because we are children of the day This is how we behave This is how we live And Paul frequently uses this metaphor in different contexts A metaphor for unbelief Some are blissfully unaware of their peril So they go on sleeping Paul says In their own minds there is no danger To their way of thinking There is absolutely no prospect Of what Paul says Or what any apostle says What Christ himself says Coming true It is interesting that in the [46:41] Septuagint version Which is a Greek translation Of the Old Testament It applies This sleep To the sleep of Jonah Do you remember the story of Jonah When Jonah was in the bowels of the ship During the storm He was completely and blissfully Unaware of the peril That the vessel was encountering It was the sleep Or the slumber That was deep Sometimes in the scripture In the Septuagint It speaks of the sleep of death So the sleep that Paul is describing here Is a deep sleep A sleep Which is Insensible to danger But as one that is in the light In the light And for whom [47:43] The darkness is past He says You are not one of them You don't have That kind of lifestyle That makes you insensible To the danger that is in the world To the believer That is behind you You are living in the light You are a child of the light The Apostle John Does the Apostle John not say something Of the same sort When he speaks To the church there The darkness is past The sleep of the drunkard Is no more A sleep that is deep When a person Under the influence of drink Falls Pray to sleep They descend into An abyss almost Of insensitivity See, Spurgeon is A master Of experience [48:45] And you have to remember In many of Spurgeon's sermons You'll find humour used by him Because he is a student of human nature And he sees all kinds of things Living in the city of London And not being separated from the morass Of pollution And corruption that was in the world But seeking to save people out of that He made all kinds But he has description of One drunk man he sees coming home And somebody taking pity on him And lighting a candle in his room And he says when he comes in He finds the candle lit in his phone But because he is so drunk Instead of one candle he sees two He sees two candles And he decides what I waste When he snuffs out the candle On one of them But because there is only one [49:48] He is left in the dark Now the important matter for the For Spurgeon was this Many he says Seize double through the drunkenness of sin They believe they have one life to live Which they can misspend And another to give to God They blow one out And are surprised to be in the dark The Apostle Paul is talking about drunkenness But not necessarily just the drunkenness That is caused by alcohol Or the sleep that comes as a result of its abuse Sin is a form of drunkenness And those who succumb to its influence Are so taken up with its influence That they are affected just as surely as those who are affected by alcohol itself But you who are of the light, he says [50:50] You are of the day And as such you are called to sobriety Which includes excess of any description Sobriety Sobriety So that you are not distracted by the things that this world holds out to you That may excite Or titivate Or make you long after it Even though you discover at every occasion of you Tasting of you Tasting of its bitterness That it is not really all it is made out to be We live in a generation that staggers from one crisis to the next And yet it little occurs to any What could be the root cause of it The apostle Paul says The apostle Paul says The reason for that [51:53] They are in the dark They are oblivious to the real cause of these things But you are not like that You who are of the light Understand what the causes are What the problem is You understand what the remedy is You understand what God has done in Christ Jesus That you yourself have made use of And he points them in the direction of The provision that is made for us Let us who are of the day be sober Putting on the breastplate of faith and love For an helmet the hope of salvation And it is interesting that Paul is You know if you compare the way Paul uses this here And the way it is used in Ephesians [52:55] It does not compare exactly at all But Paul is just reminding us of the provision that God has made For the believer through the graces that are Christian graces That meet the needs and the temptations and the trials and the testings that every Christian must encounter Here in this case if you look at it closely It seems that the Apostle Paul is It seems that the Apostle Paul is Is reminding the believer of what God has done in order to defend what he himself has introduced them to They are children of the light They are children of the light And as children of the light They are not immune from the influences of the dark And part of the experience that the scripture reminds us of constantly is this That there is friction, there is enmity, there is turmoil created when light and dark come in contact [54:07] It is inevitable One is resistant to the other When we think about it in our own experience We know that the enemy of our soul is always Always seeking to destroy anything that is good that we possess Anything that God in his grace has given to us That encourages our Christian faith Just think of one thing That is precious to your soul That you know that you possess by reason of God's goodness too Have you ever come into a situation where that very thing is challenged? [55:07] That very thing is in some way It is sought to be undermined You are made to question it You are made to feel Well maybe it is not really as precious as I think it is Maybe an experience very personal to yourself That can only be explained by reason of God's personal and intimate involvement in your life Nobody else could have done what he had done Nobody else could have spoken to you the way he did through that particular situation And yet the devil comes along and he says That is nonsense That is just something that everybody has experienced at some point in their life Where did that thought come from? [56:08] If it did not come from the enemy of your soul So the apostle is saying here Put on the breastplate The breastplate The breastplate that guards your heart The son of the divine says it guards your lungs Major organs The heart is what ensures that the blood goes round the body The lungs and the oxen goes round the body For the believer you spiritualize at the heart Is where the devil wants to To get to work He wants to do his utmost To draw you away from Christ To woe you away from the love that you have from Christ To make you love something more To make you love something alongside The lungs Well what do they do? [57:08] Well it's where your breath is What's the breath of the believer? The breath of the believer is prayer Has the devil ever tried to interfere with your prayer life? [57:22] Has he ever prevented you from praying? Has he ever intruded into your prayers? You can be sure The moment you open your Bible And you bend your head in prayer The phone will ring Or somebody will come And it becomes pressingly urgent Some thought comes into your mind You've had all week to think these thoughts But the moment you focus upon something that is good What happens? [57:54] It seems irrational It seems impossible It seems how can it possibly be But it can because you are a believer Living in the light The enemy of your soul is darkness personified And he'll do anything to intrude into the light that Christ has given to you The hope of salvation The hope of salvation It's a call to action Not lethargy or slumber The word of God reminds us of that God he says God he says has not appointed us to wrath But to appoint salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ Why does he say that? [58:45] Why does he need to tell the believer God does not want to expose you to his anger That is not what the gospel is about I don't know where I was reading recently But this was the image that was conveyed about the Christian That they were concerned about a God who was angry constantly And this was the gospel And this was the gospel A gospel of an angry God A gospel of a God whose insatiable appetite for bringing war down upon the life of every person That was what the gospel was about That was what the gospel was about But that is not the gospel God has not appointed us to wrath But to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us [59:49] That whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him So the concerned Christian The person who is fearful about the things that they are seeing You know, the person who is a Christian Who is living in the light in this world Who is light and salt in the world Will find that they need this armour And to be clothed in it Because they are involved in a battle They are involved in a hand-to-hand combat With an enemy that is destructive Wherefore, he says, comfort yourselves together Edify one another Even also as ye do I hope that's what we do Comfort one another Edify one another Sam Gordon [60:53] One of the commentators says this When faith is weak Love is cold When love is cold Hope is lost When faith is strong Love is zealous And when love is zealous Hope is fitted I don't know if you would agree with him or not But God in his grace has brought us Into the kingdom of his light He has made his people light in the Lord And he is speaking to all who are children of light And the children of the day Reminding them that whatever they are They are no longer what they were And that because they are not They should live accordingly May God encourage us to that end Let us pray Ever blessed God May we marvel at the light that is God [61:56] For God is light And we give thanks that in you there is no darkness Even this world in which we live That is so dark Because you are God Because you are God And you have decreed that your light will so shine You have still given us hope Through the gospel May we look to that Christ Who is the one through whom that light radiates Be merciful to us Can it's mercy for our sins And pardon us in Christ Amen The closing psalm is Psalm 4 Psalm 4 We can sing from verse 3 to the end Know that for himself the Lord The godly man doth choose The Lord when I on him do call To hear will not refuse [62:58] Fear and sin not Talk with your heart On bed and silent be offerings Present of righteousness And in the Lord trust ye And so on to the end of the psalm Know that for himself the Lord The godly man doth choose And know that God himself the Lord The godly man doth choose The Lord when I on him do call To hear will not refuse Fear thou if He will comeил thine would be Fear not that God [64:04] Hear not say кот I just met my head in the Lord of the King. [64:26] For who will show us any good? It's not what which may be saved. [64:43] But all thy condemnation lies. Lord, lift on us all day. [65:01] Upon my heart is yours by thee. O God, bless I am on. [65:17] Not a day in land when corn and wine. [65:27] In most women are found. I will hold me down in peace. [65:44] And by the sea will wait. May God, bless you, Lord. [65:59] May you be to your help. In your heart, bless you. May grace, mercy, and peace be called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit rest and abide with you all, now and always. [66:18] Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.