[0:00] from the time that we're able to purchase new Bibles that we'll be going to use the ESV translation of the Bible rather than the AV.
[0:11] And that doesn't prevent anybody that still prefers the AV from bringing your own Bible to church and listening or reading from your own Bible. But in order to try and reach the younger generation, it was decided that a translation that's more easily understood would be used.
[0:34] So I'll be reading it this evening and it'll be the version that will be used as soon as Bible can be purchased.
[0:44] So we're going to begin our worship this evening by singing from Psalm 68 in the Scottish Psalter. That's on page 301.
[0:57] Psalm 68 on page 301. And we're going to sing from the beginning of the psalm. Let God arise and scattered let all his enemies be and let all those that do him hate before his presence flee.
[1:13] As smoke is driven so drive thou them as fire melts walks away. Before God's face let wicked men so perish and decay. We're going to sing to the end of the verse marked 5.
[1:27] Psalm 68 from the beginning. Let God arise and scattered let all his enemies be. Amen. Let God arise and scattered let all his enemies be.
[1:52] Amen. Amen. Let God arise and Let God arise and Let God arise and Let God arise and
[3:21] Let God arise and Let God arise and Let God arise and
[4:51] Let God arise and let all his enemies be. Let God arise and let all his enemies be.
[5:21] Let God arise and let all those turmoil and then let all his enemies be. Let them let them. things, things that are of no real importance whilst we seek to worship you. We find that this is the case whilst we seek to worship you in private. Before we know it, our minds have drifted away. And we know that this may be the case as we gather along with your people in this church, that our minds may drift away to things that are not attached to the worship that we seek to offer up. And our minds are not open to hear what you might have to say to us. So we ask, O Lord, that you would disappoint our foes, that you would drive them out, that you would overcome them, and that you would remind them that they have no right to lay any charge against you, elect. Because it is
[6:22] God who justifies, it is Christ who died. Who is he who condemns? Because we know that he will seek to accuse us, and we know that he will seek to convince us that we cannot be your children, because of the sinfulness that we still find within ourselves. We acknowledge in your presence that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. And we know, O Lord, that if we are not dependent upon your grace, that we can easily fall and go astray. So we commit ourselves to you as a people that desire to worship you, a people that would seek to be caught up in the power of the Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.
[7:12] Giving us to rise up into the heavenly realms, and giving us to behold something of the glory that the spirits of just men and angels that worship you around your throne behold.
[7:26] We know that we can receive a foretaste of that here in this world. We know that we can experience the power of the resurrection that gives us to rise up above the deadness of our own hearts, the deadness of this world, and to experience the life that you give to your people, enabling them to live in the realms of your glory. When we ask, Lord, that you would touch us with a sense of your own presence, that you would indeed enable us to know that we have met with God, that our worship has been made acceptable in and through your Son, Jesus Christ, whoever lives to make intercession for us, and that you would be pleased to answer the prayers of the poor that I send to you. Because we know that your word tells us that you will hear the prayers of the poor, and that you will not condemn the prisoners. So when we find ourselves in bondage, and when we find ourselves recognizing our spiritual poverty, help us to remind ourselves that blessed are those who are poor in spirit, or of such is the kingdom of heaven. And we know that we have far greater riches than any of the people of this world.
[8:56] We know that in Christ Jesus we have treasures that will not decay, pressures that will endure for all of eternity, and help us that our hearts would be set on these things, rather than on the things that are below. Because we know that if we give our hearts to you and to the things of your kingdom, that all the other things that we need in this world will be added unto us. You haven't promised good health, you haven't promised that you would make us rich, but you have promised that you would be with us, and that you will never leave us nor forsake us. You have promised to give us the grace to help us in our time of need, whilst we experience trials and tribulations. When we experience the temptations of Satan, you are able to give us the victory, and to triumph over them. So we commit ourselves to you,
[9:57] O Lord, and we pray for all of your people. We pray because we know that you're the God who's able to meet everyone at the point of their need. And we look to you to meet with us, Lord, at that point that you're willing to meet with us. Help us to know our need, and help us to come with our spiritual poverty, to look to the spiritual riches that we have in Christ Jesus. Clothe us in his righteousness, and graciously accept us in him. We ask, Lord, that you would remember the nations of this world, and we pray for the people who have gone forth in obedience to your commission, to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the nations of this world, many of them laboring under difficult circumstances, because they're laboring in nations that are yet held in the bondage of Satan. They are yet held under the tyrannical reign of their own sinful hearts, and they're worshipping false gods who are no gods, and they're willing to die even for these gods that have been invented by man since the beginning of time. There are multitudes of false gods being worshipped throughout the world this evening, gods that are recognized as gods by their worshipers, and other idols that are unrecognizable, because people give their hearts to the things that they ought not to give their hearts to, and therefore they make it an idol, not realizing that our hearts were created for you, and our hearts were created to live in fellowship with you, and they cannot have that fellowship in the gods of this world and the gods of their imagination.
[11:57] They look to the broken cisterns of this world to quench the deep-down spiritual thirst that lies within every man's soul, and there's only one fountain that has been opened that can quench that thirst, the fountain that was opened for us in Christ Jesus to take away sin and uncleanness. Lord, we pray, that you would indeed help us to eat of that man's life, because that's the greatest blessing that we can receive in this world, to have our sins forgiven, because in accompaniment with that blessing, we are reconciled to God, and in being reconciled to God, the river of life flows into our souls, and we're able to eat of the tree of life, which grows on either side of that river. Lord, we pray that you would indeed help us to eat of that manna that came down from heaven, that you would help us to be nourished and edified in our souls, and that you would quench our deep spiritual thirst. Lord, we commit the people of this world to you as the God who alone is able to meet their needs, as the God who is willing to meet their needs, the God who has made ample provision to meet all of the needs of everybody in this world, if they will become to Jesus. So we ask, Lord, that you would bring down the strongholds of darkness, that you would prosper your own kingdom as it goes forth with the gospel of Jesus Christ in the hands and in the lips of those whom you have called and who have given obedience to your commission, that you, O Lord, would exalt your own name by establishing your own kingdom. And we pray,
[13:51] Lord, that your kingdom would come into our own hearts, so that we might be a blessing to those who are yet out with that kingdom. We pray, O Lord, for the people of this community, that you would be pleased to bless them, that you would be pleased to bless the ministry that is shortly to begin in their midst. We commit, Donald, to your care, O Lord. We pray that you would prepare him, that you would help him to exercise his gifts, and that you would help him, O Lord, to live in complete dependence upon you for the food that he seeks to edify your people with, that he would be close to you at the throne of grace. We commit him, Lord, to your care. And we pray for the people, that you would give them receptive hearts, so that they might receive what you've prepared for them. Lord, we ask that you would lead us and go before us this evening, that you would be merciful towards us, and that you would cleanse our sins. For we ask it in Jesus' precious name. Amen.
[15:04] We're now going to sing in Psalm 72 on page 92. That's in the Sing Psalms version. Page 92. And we're going to sing from the beginning of the psalm. Endow the King with justice, Lord, the Royal Son with righteousness. Your people, your afflicted ones, he'll judge with truth and uprightness. We're going to sing to the end of the verse marked seven. Four stances. Endow the King with justice, Lord, the Royal Son with righteousness.
[15:39] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[15:53] Amen.
[16:06] Amen. Amen. Amen. With truth and love by hands.
[16:17] The mountains will be peace to them. The hills of fruit of righteousness.
[16:32] The mountains will be peace to them.
[17:02] The hills of fruit of righteousness.
[17:32] The mountains will be peace to them. And in the moon, O thonger shite, the sin of an and and will reviv.
[17:58] Amen. Amen. We're going to read God's word from the prophecy of Isaiah. We're going to read from chapter 8, verse 11, into chapter 9.
[18:15] Isaiah chapter 8, and we're going to read from verse 11. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[18:25] Amen. Amen. Amen. For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.
[18:49] But the Lord of hosts him you shall honour as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And you will become a sanctuary and a stone of offence, and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
[19:10] And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken. They shall be snared and taken. Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among the disciples.
[19:20] I will wait for the Lord who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts who dwells on Mount Zion.
[19:38] And when they say to you, inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God?
[19:51] Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living, to the teaching and to the testimony? If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
[20:05] They will pass through the land greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God and turn their faces upwards.
[20:21] And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, and they will be thrust into thick darkness. But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish.
[20:33] In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Sebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
[20:48] The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nations, you have increased its joy.
[21:02] They rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor you have broken as on the day of Midian.
[21:17] For every boot of the tramping warrior in the battle tumult, and every garment gold and blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.
[21:31] And the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
[21:41] Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end. On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it, with justice and with righteousness.
[21:55] From this time forth and forevermore, the seal of the Lord of hosts will do this. Amen. And may God bless to us that reading from his own word.
[22:08] We're going to sing now in Psalm 89 on page 346. Psalm 89 on page 346.
[22:20] And we're going to sing from verse 24. My mercy and my faithfulness with whom yet still shall be.
[22:35] And in my name, whose horn and power men shall exalt at sea. His hand and power shall reach afar, I'll set it in the sea. And whose right hand established shall in the river be.
[22:49] We're going to sing to the end of verse 29. Psalm 89 from verse 24. My mercy and my faithfulness with whom yet still shall be.
[23:00] My mercy and my faithfulness with whom yet still shall be.
[23:17] And in my name, whose horn and power men shall exalt at sea.
[23:31] His hand and power men shall be. His hand and power shall reach afar, I'll set it in the sea.
[23:46] And his right hand and power shall be. And his right hand, his hand and power shall be. His right hand and power shall be. And his right hand and power shall be. And his right hand and power shall be.
[24:00] Thou art my father. Thou art my father. Thou art my God alone.
[24:15] Thou art my God. Thou art my God. Thou art my heart. Thou art my God.
[24:26] Thou art my God. Thou art my God. Thou art my God.
[24:39] than kings of any land. My love I'll ever keep for him, my girl, my cross shall stand.
[25:01] His seed I die, my heart will be forever to endure.
[25:16] And as the gifts of endless hope shall see beyond you, we can turn back to Isaiah chapter 9.
[25:43] And we want to look at the words that we have in verse 6 and 7. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.
[25:54] And the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.
[26:09] On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness, from this time forth and forevermore, the seal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
[26:23] But we want to look particularly at the words that we have in verse 6. Now the setting for this wonderful vision that was given to Isaiah falls into the prediction that Isaiah gives in chapter 7 and 8, where he's warning them that they are going to be brought into captivity.
[26:52] Sebulun and Naphtali and the Galilean region was the first section of Israel to fall to the Assyrians when they were taken into captivity.
[27:05] But the prophet tells us that the very same region that fell first to the Assyrians were yet going to have the proud honor of giving the world the Redeemer of mankind, the King of Ages.
[27:27] In chapter 7 we have the vision given to him concerning the virgin birth. And here we're given a glimpse of his deity and the eternity of his throne.
[27:45] Now this hope is sure. From verses 1 of chapter 9 through to verse 7, it's couched in past tenses.
[27:59] The future is written as something which has already happened. For it belongs to the prophet's conscientiousness of casting themselves forward and looking to what God has prepared for his people.
[28:24] And to remind themselves as they view what God has prepared for his people, to remind themselves of what God has done for them in the past.
[28:39] And even although they were going to be led into captivity, the Lord has assured them that he will be with them. Even in captivity, the Lord was not going to forsake his people.
[28:53] And he further gives the promise later on that when they would pass through the waters that they would not overwhelm them and through the fires that they would not be burnt.
[29:06] And that was literally fulfilled by Daniel's three friends in captivity when they went into the fiery oven. And that's the glorious promises that God's people have even in the midst of the dark, gloomy experiences that we may be experiencing at this time.
[29:36] Now Isaiah wants to instill confidence in the people. And he gives them this vision which the Lord has afforded them.
[29:49] And it's given in the immediate context of the darkness that's going to encompass them. In chapter 8 at the last verse, he summarizes that for them and says, And they will look to the earth, but behold distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, and they will be thrust into thick darkness.
[30:14] But then he goes on to tell them, The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
[30:25] Those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. And he's speaking as if it's already happened. Now Isaiah lived 700 years before Christ came into this world.
[30:40] Yet he speaks as if Christ has already come into this world. And he's giving the people to exercise faith and to edify their hope.
[30:54] Because what God has promised for his people will be fulfilled, even although it might take several hundred or even thousands of years before it comes to pass.
[31:07] Because these people who lived in Isaiah's day were just as dependent upon the Savior that was going to be born 700 years afterwards as we are today, 2,000 years after he has come.
[31:24] It's the same Savior. He is the only one that was going to deliver his people regardless of what era we've lived in. And this is what Isaiah wants them to understand.
[31:39] That the light that lies ahead of them should sustain them in their hope. Because their hope will not be disappointed. Because the hopes that we have in Scripture aren't something that might or might not happen.
[31:56] It's something that's assured for those who exercise faith in them. Now the eye of faith looks to everything. It looks to the darkness.
[32:08] It cannot deny the darkness. It affirms that the darkness is really real. But the eye of faith doesn't just look at the darkness and the spiritual depression that is all around.
[32:27] The eye of faith looks beyond the darkness. And it looks forward with hope to what God has promised to do for his people. Now his people must decide how they're going to react to the situations that they find themselves in.
[32:45] Are they going to allow themselves to be overwhelmed by a sense of fear and of dread because of the darkness that surrounds them?
[32:56] Are we as the people of God in this day going to be discouraged in our faith as a result of the tide of iniquity that has come in upon our nation like a flood?
[33:10] Or are we going to look beyond that darkness? Are we going to look to the one who sovereignly rules over all things? Does our faith enable us to catch the light that we have in the gospel of Jesus Christ so that we don't allow the darkness to overwhelm us and discourage us?
[33:33] But that we will look forward to the deliverances that God has promised to give to his people. And in order to do that we can look to the past mercies that God has given to his people.
[33:49] And that ought to encourage our faith. And very often if you study the prayers of God's people in the Bible they'll begin by encouraging their faith by reminding themselves of the God that they're looking to worship and the God who has done great things for his people in the past.
[34:14] And they will recall to their memories the things that he has done. They will recall to their memory the covenant that God has made with his people.
[34:24] believing that that covenant cannot be broken come what may God's word will endure forever. There is absolutely nothing that can stop God's word from accomplishing what God has promised to accomplish for his people.
[34:46] So Isaiah here insists that there is hope in the present reality of the doom and the gloom that he's just told the people that they're going to enter into as they go into captivity.
[35:01] But the darkness isn't the full total of the truth. There is more to what God is revealing to his people than just the darkness. And he projects the people forward.
[35:15] And he enables them to see that they have every reason to hope. Because the powers of darkness aren't going to triumph. Because one was going to come into the world that would take on the powers of darkness.
[35:32] That would take on the prince of darkness. And would take the power of death that he held from him. As he would enter into his den allowing himself to be brought captive by the power of death only to break it asunder and to give and assure his people that they had nothing to fear even as they walk through the valley of death that they have absolutely nothing to fear.
[36:02] Because it's not Satan and it's not the power of death that's going to have the final word. But the Lord Jesus Christ that he was seeking to project the people forward to view and to put that hope and confidence in.
[36:20] So the emphasis of the coming reality of light and joy peace and so on falls upon this child that was going to be born.
[36:32] For he begins just as if it's already happened for to us a child is born. this is the reason that they were to hope.
[36:44] This is what he has predicted was going to happen. And this child is going to be the one that will have the government on his shoulder and whose name will be called Wonderful Counselor Mighty God Everlasting Father Prince of Peace.
[37:05] Now you can imagine Isaiah as a prophet who has received this revelation from God. In the previous chapter she has received the revelation of the wars and the strife the conflicts the dimness the darkness and the depression that that could bring into the experience of those who were living.
[37:36] But as these scenes are passing before the prophet's view he catches a glimpse of a flicker of light in the distance and rather than focus on the darkness he focuses on the light so that the light will become clearer to him.
[37:55] And as the light becomes clearer to him he reveals to the people for unto us a child is born. And so on. Just as John was given when he was given the great revelation that he was given in Patmos when all seemed lost as far as the church was concerned he was himself sent into imprisonment in Patmos.
[38:27] There was fierce persecution taking place against Christ's church in the world and he might have been filled with reasons for concern and reasons to doubt whether God was actually ruling and why he was allowing his people to undergo such great distress and such fierce persecution and the Lord gave him a vision he raised him up into the heavens and he was given a panoramic view of the history of this world from the beginning to the end and he saw all the darkness but against all that darkness he saw the one that was sitting on the throne and the one to whom everybody would yet give an account and the one to whom he would deliver the kingdom over to his people and he ends his great vision with claiming that his people were like a bride adorned for her husband cleansed purified and that there was going to be nothing that was going to bother her for the whole rest of eternity because God himself had ensured that everything that had distressed her would be done away with because sin was dealt the final blow and he was going to wipe all tears from their eyes and Isaiah has given a similar vision here when he has seen the light that was shining in the midst of the darkness that encompassed them and he wants the people to catch that vision and to catch it with surety as if it's already taken place for unto us a child is born he sees the Messiah in his office and describes him as somebody that's already come he sees the incarnation of the Lord
[40:32] Jesus Christ unto us a child is born he's born as a human being into this world and he's the gift that God is going to give to his people and to us a son is given this is what God has given to his people in this world he sees the advancement of his supreme rule and authority the government shall be upon his shoulders he's the one who rules he's the one that's been exalted to the right hand of God he's the one that's going to yet come and every knee will bow to him and every tongue will have to yet confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father and he sees the qualities of this person as the suitable needs as the suitable one that can meet all of our needs because we need wisdom and here we have a counsellor who has superior wisdom he has been made wisdom for his people because he is the wisdom of God in Proverbs chapter 8 we have wisdom personified and we see how fitting he is for his people and the counsel that he gives to his people leading them in ways that are far higher than any way that they could have imagined for themselves as he leads them into the paths of truth and he's the one that's able to support us because we need support because in this life we will have trials and tribulations but we are to be of good courage because he has overcome this world we need his grace to uphold us and to keep us and we need the comfort that lay our fears from death everlasting death because he is the everlasting father and we need reconciliation with God and he assures us he is the prince of peace he can reconcile us to God and he can give us that peace that passes all understanding he's born then of human parentage and he is given from God he's the gift of God's love for this world man had no claim on him it was
[43:25] God who voluntarily gave him and it was him who voluntarily came to present himself as a sacrifice for our sins so that we might be saved and to allay the fears that we might have concerning what lies ahead of us in eternity because we have nothing to fear from death if we have Christ as our saviour the government shall be upon his shoulders his shoulders are symbolic of the one that is bearing the burdens of his people and carrying the rule and authority and he releases them from the yoke that they carry in this world as he himself gave the invitation whilst he was in this world come unto me all you that labour and that heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly of heart and I shall give you rest for your souls
[44:39] I shall give you peace he will take our burdens he will carry them upon his own shoulders and he will rule on our behalf in other words he will take all responsibility for his people he shall shoulder their burdens and this is what any good king or any good government ought to do for their people this is what we saw happening with the pandemic the government took the burden that would have fallen upon us as a result of the pandemic when they put us all into quarantine they put us in furlough and they paid the people wages they carried the burden for the people because they were able to afford to do that so that we didn't experience the distress and the hardships that we would have experienced had we not lived in a nation rich enough to carry that burden for us the same with the rise of fuel in our present day the government is going to carry part of that burden for us so that we will not experience the great hardships that we would experience if we didn't have a government that was rich and able to alleviate these burdens for us well we know that they can't completely alleviate the burdens that we carry but this ruler can he can alleviate all of our burdens because his shoulders are broad enough to bear them he has the riches of the
[46:40] Godhead at his disposal to impart to his people in their time of need and he is more than willing to give the blessings to his people if his people will but submit themselves to him so that he will give them that blessing and help his people to realise that the government is upon his shoulders he has undertaken to do this on behalf of his people and his people will come to experience that his name is wonderful in Isaiah state was often the custom when somebody ascended the throne that he would be given a new name and that name would very often reflect the character of the king that had ascended the throne but unlike most earthly kings
[47:42] Jesus can live up to his name and we know that not every earthly king has lived up to their name and lived up to the promises that they've given to the people now his name is a name that is divinely given and if it's divinely given it's because he will more than live up to anything that his name may suggest to us as God reveals the character of this person now this was foreshadowed by Solomon remember Solomon was born to Bathsheba Bathsheba was the woman that David had committed adultery with and when he committed adultery with her he lost his peace with God he was excommunicated by God the Holy
[48:45] Spirit was no longer ministering to his soul and he was chastened by God and he lost the child that he had impregnated Bathsheba with but after he was forgiven she had another child and he called his name Solomon and the meaning of Solomon is the man of peace by the time Solomon was born he had been reconciled to God he had repented of his sin and he named the child the man of peace Solomon but this was the only child of David's children that God gave a name to and God gave Solomon the name Jedediah which means the Lord's beloved he was foreshadowing his beloved son because that's how the father referred to his son when he bore witness to him this is my beloved son in whom
[49:57] I am well pleased and Solomon foreshadowed the reign of peace that would be established by this son because during Solomon's reign Israel were not at war with any nation he had peace with all the surrounding nations and all the nations wanted to be in alliance with Solomon they wanted to make a covenant with Solomon and they were quite willing to pay for it and all the riches of the surrounding nations were brought into Israel and that foreshadows what the beloved son of God would be able to achieve for his people David foreshadowed the warfare conquering the enemies all around and Solomon foreshadowed the peace that would be secured by his beloved son now this child that is born is called wonderful wonderful now I'm quite sure that he was wonderful in many ways but it could be said that the name could be translated supernatural counsellor and it is pointing to something more than what wonderful conveys to us because this is somebody who has supernatural knowledge this is somebody who is the wisdom of God and the wisdom of God is far superior to the wisdom of man and this child has that supernatural knowledge he has the wisdom of God at his disposal and therefore he is wonderful and the counsel that he gives is the best counsel because we have his counsel recorded for us in the
[52:16] New Testament this is the counsel on which his kingdom was to be built the counsel that he relayed to the apostles who wrote the New Testament this is the foundation on which the kingdom was going to be established and it was given through this supernatural counsellor this wonderful counsellor this one who was at one with God this one who knew the mind of God and the one who could convey that knowledge to his people he is indeed a supernatural counsellor because the decisions of a king or in our case the government can make or break a kingdom we saw that in the false start that we had in the previous prime minister who only lasted for a few weeks foolish counsel can almost break a kingdom but wise counsel can establish it and righteousness alone shall exalt a nation and we have lived under the blessings of a nation that was exalted by God as a result of the rich
[53:47] Christian heritage that this nation had and we have experienced great riches as a result of the laws of our nation being fashioned after the word of God renowned worldwide as a law that is fair and just towards all the citizens that belong to our nation with the envy of many nations in the world and that's as a result of us being exalted through the righteousness that ripped through our nation when Christianity took a grip on it and where people were raised up in positions of authority that would legislate in accordance with what God's will was for the people taking the laws from what God's word revealed to them and when the governments were in doubt concerning laws that they were about to legislate they would take the religious leader into council and ask their advice before they would seek to legislate in this country and they would ask them would this be in accordance with the word of
[55:14] God before they would dare enter it into the laws of the nation well we see that as a nation we have departed from the foundation that has exalted us and we're now beginning to reap the results of that and that's the danger of having a government that is no longer looking to the word of God for guidance and direction but the people of God don't look to the governments they look to the one who sovereignly rule over all the governments of this world they're looking to the one who has supernatural counsel who can give them supernatural and spiritual guidance and they will follow him regardless of what the government legislate and they will not forsake the ways of the Lord he is the mighty
[56:16] God the mighty king the warrior who is able to overcome all whose enemies he was born a man bringing with him the qualities which guarantee his people preservation and liberation because although he was born of a man born of a woman I should say and born as a man he is the one who is the son of God and let us never forget that when we look at the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ let us never forget that this is the beloved son of God this is the second person of the Godhead God this is no less than the mighty
[57:17] God that has become our savior he has wisdom and he has strength he is the everlasting father the prince of peace and that describes for us that he has a concern for the helpless he is a father to the fatherless he is concerned for the orphans and for the widows and he has a care for those who are less privileged in this world those who recognize their own poverty and although we might not have material poverty we need to recognize our spiritual poverty and we need to recognize that we need a spiritual father because spiritually we're bankrupt spiritually we have no protection spiritually we have no clothing spiritually we have nothing to eat and nothing to drink we are spiritually bankrupt but here is our loving father one who will provide all of these things for us one who can protect us one who can clothe us one who can edify us one who can give us the drink that our souls are thirsting for one who can more than fully satisfy all the needs that his people have and he can guarantee us peace because he's the prince of peace now on a personal level peace means fulfillment to die in peace is to die after having lived a fulfilling life to have achieved all that
[59:15] God has planned for us peace is well being and freedom from anxiety in relationships it's the good will and harmony the opposite of war and of envy and of strife but he guarantees us peace with God and not only doesn't guarantee us peace with God he guarantees us peace with our fellow human beings and he guarantees us peace with ourselves and you might wonder what does that mean well how many of us are living at peace with ourselves does our conscience never bother us does it never accuse us of our shortcomings does it never accuse us of our waywardness and not being obedient to the revealed will of
[60:34] God can we really say that we always live at peace with ourselves well if we put our hope and confidence in Jesus as the child that was born as the gift that was given out of God's love if we have the confidence to believe that he is sovereignly rolling over all things that he carries the government upon his shoulders and that he is no less than the mighty God then we can experience this peace because we can be assured that his atonement has done exactly that he has made us be at one with God that the sacrifice that he offered up was accepted by his father and that his father was reconciled to his children we can have peace with God and the evidence that we have if we're at peace with God is that we will strive to live peaceably with all men that's the desire that every
[61:57] Christian ought to have not to allow enmity and strife to rise up in our experience because we're certainly not bearing witness to the Lord Jesus Christ if we allow that to have the upper hand over us because we're being ruled by the prince of peace and if we're at peace with them we will desire to be at peace with our fellow human beings and if we're at peace with God and our fellow human beings we can live at peace with ourselves may God grant that he would bless to us these thoughts let us pray our father in heaven we come before you to acknowledge that we're not always what we ought to be and that's because we allow the power of darkness to overwhelm us and we allow the power of sin to rule us we ask go
[63:08] Lord that you would eradicate the sin that disbelieves in the Lord Jesus Christ because that's the sin that prevents us from living in fellowship with God in heaven our own unbelief and that's the sin that will eventually keep us out of heaven if we continue to live under the power of that sin help us that we would indeed bow the knee before him that we would confess him as our Lord here in this world that we would believe that he is sovereignly ruling over all things and that we would commit all our cares and concerns to him believing that he cares for us and that he's more than able to meet and supply all of our needs Lord help us to see the sufficiency of your grace lead us and go before us in the journey that you lead your people into even as we journey through the wilderness and experience the trials and the temptations that this wilderness world brings against us help us to be encouraged to know that you have overcome the world and help us that we would continue to look to you daily so that you might meet all of our needs and that we might live at peace with our father in heaven at peace with our fellow human beings and that we might be at peace with ourselves lead us to these ends have mercy upon us for our sins for we ask it in
[65:01] Jesus precious name amen we're going to conclude by singing in psalm 118 on page 399 in the Scottish Psalter page 399 and we're going to sing from verse 24 this is the day God made in it will joy triumphantly save now I pray thee Lord I pray send now prosperity blessed is he in God's great name that cometh us to save we from the house which to the Lord pertains you blessed have we're going to sing to the end of the psalm psalm 118 at verse 24 this is the day God made in it will joy triumphantly this is the day
[66:09] God made it will joy triumphantly be sin in thuv will see mor gro s in gay coû God has helped us to save.
[66:52] We call the house, finish to the heart, back to the sin of God.
[67:10] God is the Lord to us, and in light to the eyes.
[67:27] I yield unto the altar, for with horses sacrifice.
[67:42] Thy Lord, my God, I'll thee exalt.
[67:54] My God, I will thee praise. Give thanks to God for he is good, his mercy lasts always.
[68:17] Amen. Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest and abide with you all, now and forevermore.
[68:30] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[68:41] Amen. Amen. Amen.