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[0:00] To you all and it is lovely to be with you again this Lord's Day. If we didn't meet this morning, my name is Nathan. I am the Minister of Training at Kilmallion Ardimerkin Free Church in Lough Aber.

[0:15] ! If you have met this morning, nice to see you again. If you know me already, condolences. Let's begin with some words from the 149th Psalm. In fact, let's read the whole of Psalm 149.

[0:38] Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their king.

[0:52] Let them praise his name in the dance. Let them sing praises unto him with timbrel and heart. For the Lord take of pleasure in his people. He will beautify the meek with salvation.

[1:06] Let the saints be joyful in glory. Let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand. To execute vengeance upon the heathen and punishments upon the people. To bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron.

[1:23] To execute upon them the judgment written. This honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord. Well, let us sing together to God's praise from the 103rd Psalm.

[1:40] And we're going to sing verses 8 to 12. Excuse me one second.

[1:55] While I get there. The Lord our God is merciful and he is gracious.

[2:07] Long-suffering and slow to wrath in mercy plenteous. He will not chide continually nor keep his anger still. With us he dealt not as we sinned nor did requite our ill.

[2:22] Let's sing to God's praise from Psalm 103. The Lord our God is merciful and he is gracious.

[2:43] He will not chide continually. Long-suffering and slow to wrath in mercy plenteous.

[3:02] He will not chide continually. He will not chide continually. He will not chide continually. Nor keep his anger still.

[3:17] With us he dealt not as we sinned nor did requite our ill.

[3:38] For us God's love. For us God has mercy. The earth's arm of death.

[3:54] God has mercy. from the west so far might be.

[4:34] From the stream to heaven gives Thou all the iniquity.

[4:54] Well let us pray as we come before God this evening.

[5:13] Lord God as we have gathered this morning so we gather this evening together to worship You.

[5:30] Lord to bring our praises to You. To bring our desires to bring our supplications and our needs before You.

[5:44] Lord to bring to You our sorrows and our joys. Heavenly Father, we thank You as we read in Your Word. That as a father shows compassion to his children, that You, O Lord, show compassion to those who fear You.

[6:02] And Lord that this is because You know what we are, that You know our feeble frame and remember that we are dust. Lord we pray that You would look on us this evening and that You would find our worship to You acceptable.

[6:26] Lord we offer it to You through the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who stands before You in heaven interceding for His own.

[6:38] Heavenly Father, it is a wonderful thing to be called by His name. And we thank You that it is in His name, in the name of the Lord Jesus that we come to You.

[6:50] Heavenly Father, we pray that we give us renewed energy and focus as we come to You at the end of the day.

[7:02] Let our minds not wander. Let our hearts not wander. May we be stirred by Your Word. May we be awoken, Lord, by the singing of Your Word together in the Psalms.

[7:23] Lord would You teach us by Your Word. Rebuke us by Your Word if that is what is needed. Lord, challenge us. Stir us up that we may, to love and good deeds and help us as we seek to stir one another.

[7:40] Heavenly Father, we pray to You tonight, confessing to You our sins, knowing that even in the time we have been away from this place, that we have not been able to keep ourselves from sin.

[7:59] Heavenly Father, forgive us we pray, for we ask in Christ's name all these things and for His sake. Amen. Well, let us sing again from the 103rd Psalm.

[8:20] But we're going to sing from verse 18 to 22. Let us sing to God's praise once more. Let us sing to God's praise once more.

[8:32] Amen. To such as keep His covenant and mindful are always, of His most just commandments that they may them obey.

[8:43] The Lord prepared hath His throne in heaven's firm to stand, and everything that being hath His kingdom doth command. Let us sing to God's praise once more.

[8:54] Let us sing to God's praise once more from the 103rd Psalm, verses 18 to 22. Amen. To such as keep His covenant and mindful are always, away all this most just commandments that they may then obey the Lord be there above his throne in heaven's firm to stand on everything that being not this kingdom that command for ye his angels that excel and send bless ye the

[10:32] Lord ye who obey what keep comes and hark unto his word oh blessed night if I the Lord he gloried The glorious host of His, The endless church that do fulfill What man is pleasureless.

[11:31] O bless the Lord, all ye His works, Wherewith the world is stored, In His dominions everywhere.

[11:59] My soul, bless thou the Lord.

[12:09] If you would open your Bibles with me to Genesis chapter 17, And we will read a few verses of chapter 17, Before turning back to Paul's letter to the Philippians.

[12:33] Genesis chapter 17, And we're going to read verses 1 to 8.

[12:47] And when Abraham was ninety years old and nine, The Lord appeared to Abraham and said unto him, I am the Almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect.

[13:03] And I will make my covenant between me and thee, And will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abraham fell on his face, And God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, And thou shalt be a father of many nations.

[13:19] Neither shall thy name any more be called Abraham, But thy name shall be Abraham, For a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceedingly fruitful, And I will make nations of thee, And kings shall come out of thee.

[13:35] And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, And thy seed after thee, And their generations for an everlasting covenant, To be a God unto thee, And to thy seed after thee.

[13:48] And I will give unto thee, And to thy seed after thee, The land wherein thou art a stranger, All the land of Canaan, For an everlasting possession, And I will be their God.

[14:00] And if you would turn then to the New Testament, To the letter to the Philippians, And we will pick that up where we left off this morning, In chapter 2, At verse 12.

[14:30] Reading from verse 12 to 18. Where for my beloved, As you have always obeyed, Not as in my presence only, But now much more in my absence, Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

[14:51] For it is God which worketh in you both to will, And to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings, That ye may be blameless and harmless, The sons of God, Without rebuke, In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, Among whom ye shine as lights in the world, Holding forth the word of life, That I may rejoice in the day of Christ, That I have not run in vain, Neither laboured in vain.

[15:20] Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice And service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all, For the same cause also, Do ye joy, And rejoice with me.

[15:34] Amen. This is the word of the Lord, And we thank him for it. Well, we're going to sing again, And this time we're going to sing from the 131st psalm, And we're going to sing the whole psalm, It is quite a short one.

[16:18] My heart not haughty is, O Lord, Mine eyes not lofty be, Nor do I deal in matters great, Or things too high for me.

[16:28] Let us sing to God's praise once more, From Psalm 131. Amen. My heart not haughty is, O Lord, My eyes not lofty be, Nor do I deal in matters great, For things too high for me.

[17:08] I surely have myself behaved, With quietness in earth and mild, As child, O mother, Weed my soul, Is like a weeded child, Upon the Lord, Let all the hope of Israel rely, In from the time that present is,

[18:13] Come to eternity. Well, let's pray as we come to God's word this evening.

[18:32] O Lord, As we come to look together at your word this evening, We pray that you would calm and quiet our souls, That we would rest in you.

[18:50] Lord, May your spirit move among us. Lord, Would you be pleased to use me, Feeble instrument though I am, Lord, That people may hear your word, And be built up together, As the body of Christ.

[19:11] Lord, Lord, If there are any here, Who do not know Jesus, As their Lord and Saviour, If they do not love him, As he has loved them, Lord, Would you open their eyes, Open their hearts, To see him, And to know him, To love him.

[19:32] Heavenly Father, We thank you for your word. May we, May we be given understanding, That we may plumb the depths of the riches of your word, And your goodness to us.

[19:54] Lord, Pull out the Lord Jesus before our eyes, We pray. In his name. Amen. Well, If you have, Your Bibles open, At Philippians 2, 12 to 18, That would be good.

[20:15] And I'm, Calling my servant, This evening, Prove it. I wonder what comes to your mind, When you hear, That phrase, Prove it.

[20:28] Perhaps the thing that comes to your mind, Is one of your colleagues, Or your classmates, Is a bit boastful, And has a, High opinion of themselves, Maybe, You have, A colleague, Who, Wishes to, To prove how sharp, They can, Make their paring knife, Who then, Proceeds to, Slice through, All the tendons, And nerves, In one of their fingers, Eh, Dylan?

[20:56] They might say, Something equally ridiculous, Like, I can balance a chair, On my chin, Of course, The classic, When I was working, In construction, Before, Going into ministry, Was, Eh, I can put that nail in, With one swing of a hammer, And of course, When somebody says, Something, Like that, Then there's only, One appropriate response, And that is, Prove it.

[21:19] And in that context, It's a challenge, Right? It's, It's a, It's a confrontation, And in some ways, We probably don't want the person, To be able to prove it, We would rather, They humiliated themselves, And sometimes, Maybe we feel, That that is the sort of, Proving, That we have to do, As Christians, That we need to, To rise up, To face a challenger, Who thinks, We can't possibly manage, To live up, To that which we profess, Well that's not, How Paul wants us, To live, It is not, That he expects, Our lives, To prove in that way, He does expect, Our lives, To prove, The reality, Of what we profess, To believe, The reality of our faith, But it is not, In that challenging, Way, It is more, In the way that gold, Is proved pure, And gold,

[22:20] Proves itself, Pure, By simply being, Gold, It doesn't become gold, Temporarily, Because it was challenged, It is always, Gold, Always shiny, Always beautiful, Always precious, And that is, What we are also called to, As God's people, To be proved, To be the citizens, Of the gospel, To be citizens, Worthy of the gospel, As we were thinking, This morning, Because that is, What we are, Our passage, This evening, Begins with a, A therefore, Clearly linking it back, To what we were thinking, About this morning, This morning, Paul instructed, That we are to live, As citizens, Worthy of the gospel, Of Christ, And he not only, Explained why, He gave us an example, In Christ's own, Humility, As demonstrated, In his incarnation, And in the section, We read this evening, Paul now, Having given this example,

[23:22] Of Christ, Restates the need, To live, In a way, Which honors God, And explicitly, This time, By relating, Our behavior, To our salvation, Our witness, And our partnership, God is, Making us, Pure, Like pure gold, And our lives, Should demonstrate that, Our lives, Should prove that, But not in the way, That one faces up, To a challenge, But simply, By being, The people of God, As he calls us to, When the world, Looks at the church, When your community, Looks at this, Church, Paul wants it, To be able to see, The shine, That you are, Gold, Precious, And beautiful, And the only way, That will be possible, Says Paul, Is if we, Who are partners, In the gospel,

[24:22] Are behaving, As partners, In the gospel, As those who are partners, Both with God, And with one another, This isn't, You say you've been saved, Prove it, This is, You have been saved, Let it be proved, By your life, And very simply then, We're going to look this evening, At what Paul says, We are to do, Which is to work out, Our salvation, To shine as lights, In the world, And to rejoice, Together, So we start, With salvation, Work out, Your salvation, Someone said, To me, Recently, There is an American, Raising children, In Scotland, One of the most, Frustrating, Colloquialisms, Her boys come home, Saying, Is, Use, And I sympathize, More than a little, And to be fair to her, She wasn't keen on,

[25:24] Y'all, Either, However, However, When it comes to reading, Scripture in English, You can come to realize, That our lack, In modern English, Of a distinct, Second person, Plural, Leads itself, To certain difficulties, As long as you, Understand it, Then actually, The King James Version, Is very helpful here, Because it does use, The second person, Plural, Ye, And you, Though of course, That may be confusing, Because we use you, As both, Singular, And plural, Hopefully the context, Though, Makes it clear, That Paul is addressing himself, To the group, To all the believers, And not to an individual, Or individuals, Paul is still, Talking to all of us, But all of us, Together, And especially, When he says, Work out, Your own, Salvation, It's very easy,

[26:24] To read that, And see a singular, You, Oh he's talking, To me, Well yes he is, But he is talking, More particularly, To all of us, As a church, Because Paul is not speaking, Of salvation here, In the sense of, The once for all event, When God declared us, To be righteous, In his sight, Saved from death, That is what we call, Justification, No he is talking, Of salvation, Here, In the sense of, We are being, Saved, From the power of sin, Which is still at work, In the world, And in ourselves, That process, Which we call, Sanctification, Being made more, Like Christ, Now it is of course, The case that, Sanctification is, Is often spoken of, Singularly, Even by Paul, Referring to our, Individual growth, In Christ likeness, But here Paul,

[27:24] Is particularly concerned, To draw attention, To how we, Are being sanctified, Together, As brothers, And sisters, In Christ, Now, Sanctification, Is something, We are called, To participate in, Along with the Holy Spirit, That it is not simply, Passive like justification, We do not, Give anything, To our justification, But God calls us, To work, In our, Sanctification, And Paul actually, Spells this out for us here, Work out, Your own salvation, With fear and trembling, For it is God, Who works in you, Both to will, And to work, For his good pleasure, Paul is not denying, The sovereignty of God, In saving people, He is recognizing it, And articulating, That the result, Of being saved, Is to become, More like Christ, God promises, That he works in us, To bring about this change, But he also commands us,

[28:27] To work towards, This purpose as well, I suppose it is a bit like, Sailing a ship, If the wind, Always blows in, In the right direction, Which of course it doesn't, But for the purposes, Of this illustration, And if we have been given a map, Which directs us the way to go, Then we are responsible, For keeping the ship, Straight, In order to follow the map, The path set out for us, And to maintain the direction, Which sails with the wind, In the current passage, However, You might say that, This is a ship, Which we are all on board together, Right, Each with tasks, According to, Our gifting, Tasks which keep, The ship, On course, One tax the sails, One does, The rigging, You get the idea, One works the pump, And it's only successful,

[29:28] Because everybody works, In harmony, Together, Together, I realise, We don't have, A captain, So a ship metaphor, Is a bit flimsy, But, Because we have, A Kirk session, On a deacon's court, You understand, But under Christ, As the, Captain, The point is, That Paul has not departed, From his, His gospel, Partnership, Theme, He's not suddenly moved, To talking to, To you, The individual, He is still talking, To you, The church, To us, The church, And it is still, Very much about, Who we are, And what we do, Together, And as we'll see, When we move on, To verses 14 to 16, For Paul, This is an essential part, Of our witness, To others, That we not only, Resemble Christ, As individuals, But as his body, The church, We also look like him, Well how are we,

[30:31] To do this, What, What should be, The attitude of our hearts, As we seek, To work out our salvation, Well, Curiously, Paul says, It is to be, Done with fear, And trembling, And maybe that sounds, To you like, The sort of heart, Of someone, Who is, Who is not assured, Of their salvation, Who lives in fear, That they may lose it, If they do not work hard enough, To obey God, That which sees God, As a harsh master, Who is waiting, To tell them, That they've failed, And are no longer, Good enough, Yet this is clearly, Not what Paul means, Not unless he has, Abandoned his theology, Of assurance, Which he so clearly stated, In chapter 1 verse 6, And just as clearly, In his other letters, This is where, That I actually might help, To glance back at, Chapter 1, Because, Of course, If we were reading this letter, As it would have been read, At the time, We would have, A few minutes earlier, Heard,

[31:32] Chapter 1 read, Right? We wouldn't have, Had even, Half a day in between, Never mind, A long time, And Paul has just, Proclaimed the exaltation, Of Christ, To the glory of God, The Father, And as believers, We are meant to have, A holy fear of God, A reverence, And an awe, At his, Utter majesty, And glory, Something that, Through the Holy Spirit, We can see, That others are blind to, And if we look, To the end of verse 13, That we see that, This glorious, And awesome God, Is working, In us, For his good pleasure, Just, Just think how amazing that is, For a moment, That God would work, In us, For his pleasure, Despite our, Continued sinful, In this, Even, Those of us, Who have been,

[32:33] Saved, Despite our failure, To always keep in step, With him, Despite the indwelling, Of the Holy Spirit, Despite, Everything about us really, God, Can, Work in us, And through us, And is pleased, To work in us, And through us, So that we are, Pleasing to him, In this way, As we work together, In the power, God supplies, And according to his direction, We will be those, Who shine, As lights, In the world, And Paul speaks, Of our salvation, But, We are to work it out, Together, And now he connects it, To our witness, To shining, As lights, In the world, Now this is, Mixing metaphors, I realise, Because of the image, Of shiny gold, But, But Paul here, Is picking up, On the idea, Of Jesus' own,

[33:34] Words, To his disciples, That they are the light, Of the world, Whose light, Should shine, Before others, That they may see, Our good works, And give glory, To our father, Who is in heaven, And it also, Picks up the corporate, Nature of that, Call, From Jesus, Both Christ, And Paul, Are speaking, Of how believers, Together, Are to be light, To the world, No wonder, Paul has been, So careful, As we thought about, This morning, To instruct, The Philippians, In being humble, Like Christ, What he now, Gives them, In order, That they may shine, As lights in the world, Is further instruction, In exercising, This humility, Amongst themselves, And by extension, It is, How we ought to exercise, That humility, Amongst ourselves, And Paul does, A great job, Of covering all the bases here, Do all things, Without grumbling,

[34:34] Or disputing, So there's no way, We can say, Oh, But what about, No, Okay, But what about, No, Anything you do, Must be done, Without grumbling, Or disputing, Now, It would probably be, Over reading, To suggest, That this is, A particularly big problem, In Philippi, Since Paul has just, Addressed them, And said, As you have always obeyed, Suggesting perhaps, This is a present danger, Or something, Simmering below the surface, Perhaps, Not an endemic problem, But actually, Whoever, Or wherever we are, As long as we are, God's people, These two behaviours, Are always a clear, And present danger, Because they are part, Of the old self, And the devil, Is always waiting, For an opportunity, To tempt us, Into them, So let us consider them, Both in a bit more detail, Maybe grumbling,

[35:36] Or murmuring, As the King James has it, Sounds, Sounds rather, An inoffensive thing, To be so concerned, About Paul, After all, Most highland men, And I would speculate, Most island men too, Over the age of about 30, Could be characterised as, Grumbling, A fair bit, Oh the rain, Oh my knees, Oh the wife, You know the thing, It's just a characteristic, Mild, Grumpiness, If you like, Except it's not that kind of, Grumbling that Paul has in mind, This is not some, Semi-serious griping, That some of us, Like to indulge in, Every so often, Grumbling is far, More serious than that, A quick survey, Of how the word is used, In the New Testament, Particularly of disciples, Will be illuminating, I think, In Matthew 20, Jesus tells, A parable, Of some hired workers, Some day labourers,

[36:37] Who agree to work, A day in a vineyard, For a day's fair wage, The man who hires them, First thing in the morning, Then hires other workers, Throughout the day, And at the end of the day, They all receive, The same pay, And at this point, The men who were first hired, Grumble, Against the man, Who hired them, Because those who had, Barely done any work, Got the same reward, And this is a picture, Of believers, Grumbling against God, Because all, Receive, The same eternal reward, In Christ, In John 6, 61, Some of Jesus' disciples, Are described as, Grumbling, About his teaching, That salvation, Is only found in him, The result of which, Is that many, Turn away, And leave him, And no longer follow him, In 1 Corinthians 10, 10, Paul, Uses it to describe, The behaviour, Of the wilderness generation, Who grumbled, Against God,

[37:38] And were destroyed, In Acts 6, There is a complaint, Or literally, A grumbling, Against the Hebrews, In the church, That comes from, The Hellenists, On account of the church, Failing to operate, With equity, Or as true gospel partners, As Paul might put it, Resulting, In some of their widows, Not being fed, The first deacons, Are appointed, As a result of this, Finally, In 1 Peter 4, 9, The apostle Peter, Uses it, In a similar way, To here, He says, Show hospitality, To one another, Without grumbling, And much like, Paul's instructions here, This too is tied, To a context, Of being, Humble, And considering others, Before ourselves, So grumbling, Is the kind of complaining, That is, Intended, To cause, Discord and trouble, And it is an opposite,

[38:40] Of humility, In every way, This is selfish, Ambition, And conceit, At work, The kind of attitude, That Paul, Expressly, Has worn against already, Likewise, With disputing, Now this is certainly, More self-explanatory, I hope, Than grumbling, If it's not necessarily, Clear why grumbling, Is an issue, Hopefully it is obvious, That disputing, Is not conducive, To maintaining, The unity of the spirit, Among ourselves, Nor is it born, Out of Christ-like humility, To be clear, However, Disputing, Should not be confused, With simply disagreeing, This isn't, Paul commanding, That we must, Never have any, Disagreement, It is the distinction, If you like, Between a discussion, And an argument, And perhaps one example, Will suffice to illustrate, This is the word used, Of the argument, The apostles have,

[39:42] Over which of them, Is the greatest, And that is one of, The clearest examples, In the new testament, Of believers, Being conceited, And having selfish ambition, Which resulted, In an unwholesome, Arguing, Amongst them, And this is from the guys, Who spent, All day, Every day, For three years, With Jesus, Again, Not to say, That this means, There will never be, Differences of opinion, Even the elders, And deacons, Will not always, Agree on everything, Though, Perhaps as a slight aside, It is worth saying, That one of the reasons, The free church, Requires confessional unity, From all office bearers, Ministers, Elders, And deacons, Is so that we can be sure, That we are agreed, On all those things, That we consider, To be of vital importance, And we trust God, That there is sufficient, Grace for us, To potentially disagree, Over the matters, That we consider, Less essential, No less important,

[40:48] Than the command, However, Is the reason, Attached to it, We are to do all things, Without grumbling, Or disputing, That, We may be, Blameless and innocent, Children of God, Without blemish, In the midst of a crooked, And twisted generation, Among whom you shine, As lights in the world, Holding fast, To the word of life, So that in the day, Of Christ, I may be proud, That I did not run, In vain, Or labour in vain, Now all of, Verse 15, Draws on big, Moments, From the Old Testament, The covenant, With Abraham, We read earlier, Who was to be, Innocent and blameless, Before God, Moses, Indictment, Of the wilderness, Generation, Who failed, To be children, Children of God, Without blemish, And were themselves, A twisted and crooked generation, And the final, Vision of Daniel, Which says, Those who are wise, Shall shine like the brightness,

[41:49] Of the sky above, God called Israel, Through Abraham, To live innocent, And blameless lives, Before him, This they failed to do, Instead becoming, Twisted, And crooked, Despite their salvation, Out of slavery, In Egypt, Daniel's vision, Anticipated the end times, When the church, Would be revealed, As the true, Israel, The people of God, From every tribe, Tongue, And nation, And we live now, As those who have been called, As Abraham was, To live as God's children, In the midst of, This crooked, And twisted, Generation, Which honestly, Let's be honest, Is not so different, To the generation, The Philippians lived among, Our conduct together, Should point the world, Should point our, Communities, Towards Christ, And draw them to him,

[42:51] How we are with one another, Says Paul, Has a direct effect, On our witness, To a people who are walking, In the darkness of sin, We are supposed to be, Shining as lights, In the world, Clearly for all to see, Holding fast, To the word of life, It's an interesting, Turn of phrase, That Paul uses here, Actually, About holding, Fast to the word of life, It is not just the idea, That we need to hold on to it, In the sense of, Studying and meditating on it, And obeying it ourselves, But in the sense, As the AV has, Of holding on to this, So that you are holding it out, For others, Holding for, The word of life, Picture it like, Like this, You are, You are holding on to your Bible, Everywhere you go, And people are saying to you, Chuck that away, What are you doing with that?

[43:49] How can you listen to what that says? And they are trying to swipe it from your hands, That you keep holding on to it, But you hold on to it, Not simply for your own sake, But so that you can say, To the very same people, Actually, You need this too, Just as much as I do, And to open it, And to come, And to hear the words, Of eternal life, And this is Paul's desire, That our faith in Christ, Would be seen in how we conduct, Ourselves together, As God's people, Making our light shine, As clearly as possible, Not obscuring it from view, By succumbing, To the temptation, To behave in a way, That divides us, To act out of, Conceit and selfish ambition, But rather, To act out of the same humility, As Christ has, Interestingly,

[44:51] He even says, Do it for me, Because he wants to know, When he reaches, The day of Christ, That is when Christ returns, And all, Are resurrected, Unto life, Or unto judgment, That his beloved brothers, And sisters from Philippi, Whom he has worked so hard, To teach, And disciple, Will be standing, Beside him, In the throngs of the righteous, On that day, On that final day, There will be, Great rejoicing, Rejoicing, Both for Paul, And for the Philippians, And I am sure for us, But Paul wants that rejoicing, To start now, Instead of grumbling, And disputing, Christians are called, To rejoice, With one another, Our salvation, Our witness, And finally, Our partnership,

[45:51] All working together, In Paul's, Thinking, Rejoice together, I love, Paul's turn of praise, If, Even if I am to be poured out, As a drink offering, On the sacrificial offering, Of your faith, I am glad, And rejoice with you all, Likewise, You also, Should be glad, And rejoice, With me, And this is more, Gospel partnership language, And he is saying, If the offering of myself, I am making, To God, Is in my imprisonment, In my service, Here, In Rome, Is in partnership, With your own suffering, Your own giving of yourselves, As you serve God, In Philippi, And that is worth, Rejoicing, About for me, And it should be for you too, Rejoice, Rejoicing, Joy, These are all, Biblical words, That I think we are prone,

[46:52] To misunderstand, Or misuse, Because they are not, Synonymous, With happiness, Or jumping up and down, In ecstasy, Of course those things, May accompany, Our joy, Or be expressions of it, But joy, Is most often, A verb and not a noun, A conscious choice, Not an emotional response, Something we are called to, Not that there is no feeling, Of joy, But that it is not something, Capricious, True joy, Not something which blows, With the wind, Of feeling, Rejoicing is something, That can be done, In the times of, Greatest prosperity, And happiness, But which also can be done, In the times of, Deepest trouble and despair, In the times of, The deepest trouble and despair, In the times of, The deepest trouble and despair, In the times of, The deepest trouble and despair, Rejoicing is the response, To being called by God, To knowing Christ, Who gave himself up for our sakes, And the response to being called,

[47:53] To serve him, As a member of his body, The church, To shine as light, In this world, We are giving ourselves, To God, We are giving ourselves, For God, That working out, Our salvation, And we are doing so, As partners, In the gospel, Hardshifts will come, Resistance, Will come, Despair, May come, But so too will blessing, And so too will new life, In those who were once, Dead, And in all things, Whether we are brought low, Or whether we abound, We can rejoice, Knowing, That God is working in us, To will, And to work for his good pleasure, We are his, He is our God, And we are the people,

[48:55] Of his pasture, Let our lives, Prove, We are his, May we shine as lights, In the world, As we seek, To show them, Christ, Who is in us, Let's pray, Our Lord God, It is a, High calling, That, To which you have called us, And Lord, You know, We are but dust, May we remember too, That we are but dust, Remember that there is only one, Who supplies, The strength, Only one, Who supplies, All that we need, Even the very words, To go forth,

[49:56] And make disciples, Of all nations, Heavenly Father, Would you be pleased, To work, In us, And through us, Lord, Teach us to love, Your word, That we may teach, Teach others, To love it, Lord, Teach us, Each day, To know, And to love, The Lord Jesus, More and more, That he might be seen, In us, That we might teach, Others, Of him, That they too, May come to him, And know him, As their Lord, And Savior, Amen, Let us close, By singing, From Psalm, 50, The second, Version, Of Psalm, 50, And we're going to sing,

[50:56] Verses, 1, To 6, Psalm, 50, The second version, Verses 1, To 6, The mighty God, The Lord, Hath spoken, Called the earth upon, In from the rising of the sun, And to his going down, From out of Sion, His own hill, Where the perfection, High of beauty is, From thence the Lord, Hath shined gloriously, Let us sing, As we close, The mighty God, The Lord, Has told, And called, The earth upon, Him from the rising of, The sun,

[51:58] Unto his going down, From out of Sion, His own hill, Where the perfection, High of beauty, Is from thence the Lord, A shining glory, Of God shall come, And shall no more, Beside the cross behind,

[53:02] His poor and father shall waste great storms, shall come the same above.

[53:20] He to the heavens from above, I to the earth be all.

[53:40] Shall a flower that he is just meant to make before his people's show.

[53:58] Let all my sins together be unto thee, God.

[54:16] Though God by sacrifice will be a covenant of faith.

[54:37] And then the heavens shall be lit. This righteousness of God.

[54:56] He shall come and shall come and shall come.

[55:08] So it is just but God. Would you please stand to receive the blessing.

[55:27] The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

[55:42]  Amen.