[0:00] Psalm 84, reading from the beginning of the psalm. Psalm 84, reading from the psalm.
[1:00] Verses 1 to 6 of Psalm 84, to God's praise, how lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of hosts, to me. How lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of hosts, to me.
[1:24] The tabernacles of thy grace, how blessed are they thee.
[1:37] My thirsty soul of heaven bid, if inside courts to see.
[1:50] My very heart and flesh cry out, O living God for thee.
[2:03] Behold, this battle findeth out, and how sweet it to rest.
[2:17] The swallow also for herself hath purchased Sidonis.
[2:30] In thine old altars, where she's safe, her young ones forth may bring.
[2:44] O thou almighty Lord of hosts, who art my God and King.
[2:57] Blessed are they in thy house that dwell, they ever give thee place.
[3:10] Blessed is the man whose strength thou art, in whose heart are thy ways.
[3:24] Who passing thorough, big as fill, lend to dig up wells.
[3:37] Of soul the rain that falleth down, the pools with water fills.
[3:51] Well, let us call upon the name of God in prayer. Gracious and ever-blessed God, we seek to come this evening before the one who is the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise God, to whom be all honour and glory forever.
[4:17] We come to worship, to offer the sacrifices of our lips. We come confessing that thou art worthy to be praised.
[4:27] And we ask, Lord, that as we seek to lift up our praises, as we seek to worship in the reading of thy word, the preaching of it, the hearing of it, in the offering up of our prayers, our thanksgivings, in the singing of psalms, we pray that all would be accepted, and that it might be pleasing, rising up into thy nostrils as a sweet-smelling savour.
[4:58] Not because of any goodness in ourselves. We confess ourselves to be a people of unclean lips, and that our very worship is polluted by these lips.
[5:11] And yet, Lord, we seek to be accepted in the Beloved, in the merits of another, in thy blessed Son, Jesus Christ, the Son of thy love, in whom thou art well pleased.
[5:28] He who has gone into the most holy place on behalf of his people, and as our great high priest has sprinkled his own blood upon the altar, so that the veil of the temple might be rent in twain, and that we might have access into the most holy of all, to come with boldness unto a throne of grace, that we might obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.
[5:58] And so, Lord, we come this evening, asking thee to be with us in our worship, to draw near to us. That is thy great promise, that if we draw near to God, that God will draw near to us.
[6:14] And that if we resist the evil one, that he will flee from us. And so, Lord, we come, seeking thy blessing to be upon us, as a gathered people, and seeking thy blessing especially to be upon this congregation here, and we ask thee, Lord, to build them up together in their most holy faith.
[6:38] Bless them as they seek to be faithful in this community, as they seek Lord's Day by Lord's Day, and midweek by midweek, to lift up the name of the King.
[6:52] We ask then thy blessing to be upon them. Place a pastor over them, a man after thine own heart, one who will serve as a faithful under-shepherd, one who will not take the glory to himself, for thy glory thou wilt give to no other, but one who will give all of the glory, to the triune God.
[7:21] Be with us then, Lord, in our worship, we ask, grant that all this evening might be done decently, and in order, and that it might be to the edification of our never-dying souls.
[7:36] Do us good, then we pray, and forgive us for our sin. For Christ's sake, Amen. What we're going to read now in God's Word is we find it in the Gospel according to Matthew, and chapter 18.
[8:00] Matthew chapter 18, reading from the beginning of the chapter. At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
[8:22] And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
[8:38] Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
[8:52] But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
[9:04] Woe unto the world because of offences, for it must needs be that offences come, but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh. Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off and cast them from thee, it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
[9:30] And if thine eye offend thee, plug it out and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hellfire.
[9:42] Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones. For I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father, which is in heaven.
[9:52] For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye, if a man have a hundred sheep and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine and goeth into the mountains and seeketh that which is gone astray?
[10:10] And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoices more of that sheep than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father, which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
[10:27] Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
[10:47] And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
[10:59] Verily I say unto you, whatsoever he shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever he shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father, which is in heaven.
[11:20] For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. And so on. Amen. we pray that the Lord would bless his own word to us and to his name be all the praise and all the glory.
[11:38] Well, for a few moments this evening we can turn our attention to the final verse that we read there in the chapter. Matthew chapter 18 and verse 20.
[11:50] Well, this is a verse that's familiar to you.
[12:05] A verse that you've often heard quoted. Perhaps that the men here have quoted in the prayer meetings. And it's an important verse but it's particularly important that we understand what it's saying.
[12:19] Not only that we understand what it is that it's saying but that we act upon what it's saying. There is of course a question as to whether this verse applies to every gathering of the Lord's people.
[12:36] And it's certainly true that the context here is that of church discipline. If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he doesn't hear you then you take perhaps one or two others and you go and speak to him.
[12:53] And if he doesn't hear even the two or three of you then you take it to the church. Probably referring to the eldership, the apostles at the time, the eldership in the church.
[13:06] And it becomes a matter of official discipline. And we're told here that whatever the apostles, whatever the elders shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.
[13:20] Whatsoever they shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. That the decisions of the elders shall be ratified in heaven. Not because God agrees with everything that we think, every decision that we make.
[13:35] Not because God ratifies every decision that a church session makes. But rather, when a church session acts in disciplining a member in accordance with the word of God, with the will of God in his word, they are acting in accordance with the will of God in heaven.
[13:56] And so there's that assurance. But in order to help them in that assurance, he says to them, where two or three are gathered together in my name, when you are gathered in such a situation, in a situation where you are having to exercise discipline in the church, I will be with you.
[14:13] And those who have been involved in such situations have been very thankful for such a verse and are mindful of their need of the presence of Christ at such times, perhaps as much as any other time.
[14:29] And that is clearly the primary reference. But most agree, and I say most, referring to many of the commentators that we read and that the minister Shear would read, Reformed men, they agree that although the primary reference is to church discipline, the principle applies beyond that.
[14:52] The principle applies to other gatherings of the Lord's people where two or three are gathered together in the name of Christ that he will be there.
[15:03] And I want us then to consider this promise just under a few headings. It's a glorious promise. It's worthy of our time. And I'm sure that there's much that we can glean from it.
[15:15] Firstly, I want us to consider the beneficiaries of this promise. Who are the people that the promise is made to?
[15:27] Well, where two or three are gathered together. This isn't a promise to the individual believer. There are many promises made to the individual believer.
[15:41] The Lord promises even to be with the individual believer. He promises that he will never leave and never forsake us. He tells us that he will be with us by his Holy Spirit.
[15:55] That Christ will dwell in our hearts through faith. Many glorious promises. But this particular promise isn't to the individual. You'll actually find that throughout all of Scripture.
[16:08] That there are many promises made to you as an individual. Whosoever believeth in the Son of God shall not perish.
[16:19] But have everlasting life. That is a promise to you as an individual. But you'll find that many things are said not to the individual. Many things are said to the church. To the gathered people.
[16:32] And if we don't make the distinction between the individual believer and the church then much of that will be lost to us. Because many things that God says to us in his word he's not saying it to us as individuals.
[16:45] He's saying it to churches. And that is true with regard to some of his promises as well. And some of the blessings which he bestows upon us.
[16:55] He bestows them upon us not as individuals but as a church. So this promise isn't made to the one by himself who is praying in the name of Christ.
[17:10] Although that is a good thing to do. And it's a blessed thing to do. And there are times that the Lord will come in with him or with her. But this particular promise is made to the two or the three or more who are gathered together.
[17:26] The word gathered together there it's one word and it's the word from which we take the word synagogue. Those who are synagoguing together.
[17:39] That's essentially the word. There is an invisible unity that unites the Lord's people one to another.
[17:50] So that because Christ dwells in you by his spirit and because Christ dwells in the soul of the believer in America or Asia or Africa by his spirit there is an invisible unity there.
[18:04] There is a family bond. But there should be a physical unity as well. The Lord calls us and desires that we gather together.
[18:15] That we synagogue. That we the word was used essentially thought for assemblies. That we assemble together. That we come together in such a way.
[18:28] You see Jesus Christ is building a church. those literally who are called out and those who are called together.
[18:41] Called to dwell together in unity. And Christ cares greatly about the individual and about the salvation of the individual and about the spiritual health of the individual.
[18:53] But he cares also about the church about the gathered people about what he calls his own body. What the apostle Paul calls the body of Christ.
[19:08] And he wants to see a visible unity. He knows that there's an invisible unity. He wants to see a visible unity. John Murray who in the third volume of his works he deals with this subject.
[19:24] He says that the church is patterned on God himself. And he says that as the trinity dwells in unity there is unity equal in power the same in substance equal in power and glory.
[19:42] There is unity there but there is distinction there as well. The father is not the son and the son is not the spirit. They are distinct but there is unity trinity and unity.
[19:57] So John Murray says that the church is plurality in unity as well. Plurality more than one, two, three, four, five, dwelling together in the unity of the faith.
[20:12] And to back this up he takes from the gospel according to John Christ saying that they may all be one as thou father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us.
[20:28] Christ is saying to his father that the church might be like us that they might share the kind of unity that I have with the father that I have with the spirit that the church might be like that.
[20:39] So when we consider the promise which we'll come to the substance of it it is in the gathered church it is in the synagogue it is amongst the gathered people the assembled church of Christ that he promises to be and he loves to see members of his body but he also loves to see the whole body as it joins together and he has a particular he doesn't just put a particular emphasis on the church but he has a particular love for the church in psalm 87 we read that God loves the gates of Zion more than all of the dwellings of Jacob he loves the dwellings of Jacob he loves the homes of his people he loves their private worship their family worship but more than all of Zion he loves the public worship of his house and so this promise is made to those who join together in his name even if it's just two or three this promise extends to them it's a wonderful thing that there's wonderful condescension that the
[22:02] Lord would be in the midst of a people so despised by the world that nobody that there's only two or three there nobody else wants to be in their midst and the church has come to that and there have been times when the prayer meetings friends have had two or three people in them even tonight I don't doubt that there are people in Tolstah and if you're going to pay them a hundred pounds they wouldn't come here tonight if you're going to pay them a thousand pounds they wouldn't be here tonight it's not worth their while not worth their time and yet Christ says that where the two or three are gathered together in his name he is here he is in the midst how careful we ought to be not to despise even the small gatherings of the Lord's people you know it's better to be in a small church it's better to than being a church which is full than maybe to have this church full and
[23:04] Christ not to be here it is better for him to be there even if it's with the two or the three so these are the beneficiaries of the promise the gathered people plurality secondly though there are conditions in this promise we ought never to presume upon the promises of God that they are anyway we have to ask when is Christ in the midst is he in the midst at every gathering of the Lord's people is he in the midst of the Lord's people in whatever they're doing whether they just perhaps meet three or four of them to have dinner or whether they meet out on the road walking the dog is the Lord in the midst of that gathering or is a church there are many societies that call themselves churches that say that they meet in
[24:12] Christ's name they might know little more about Christ really truly experientially than the name itself but they call themselves Christian in some sort of way I suppose if we're going to answer the question we have to answer what does it mean to gather together in Christ's name in my name that is the condition if the beneficiaries are the two or three gathered together in my name is the condition if we gather in his name then he will be here in the midst now what does that mean John Murray again he cites four conditions that he takes from this phrase and I'll just go through them quickly I'm not going to try to better them or come up with my own but he says first this means by the authority of
[25:12] Christ in Christ's name in whose name are you here on whose authority are you doing this well we could ask that of ourselves this evening what right do you have to present yourself before God well we don't take it upon ourselves to present ourselves before God we don't come here to offer strange fire to approach him in the way that we think best ourselves we haven't the church has never taken it upon herself to draw near to God James Bannerman the 19th century Scottish theologian he emphasizes in his work the church of Christ that the church is not a voluntary society the church is not a voluntary society now most of our societies our groups our organizations are voluntary and we need voluntary societies in Kinloch we have a historical society and it's a voluntary there's certain people and they have an interest a common interest in the history of the place and they have joined together and they have formed a society and it's good and well you have societies formed around interests in football or tennis or societies formed in order to have community shops perhaps even to an extent we can say that our councils our governments to a lesser extent that they are voluntary societies it works it makes sense so you take it upon yourself in order to be organized in order to do things properly to join together the church is not that there's a sense in which it is that the church is a group of people who have common interests part of the reason that you're here this evening is because you share the interests of those who are sitting around about you an interest in Christ an interest in his word an interest in his worship and you are here voluntarily but yet we can say that the church doesn't exist because a bunch of people with a common interest decided to start the church you have no right to start a church any more than I do the church exists by divine institution it exists not because a bunch of people have taken it upon themselves to start it but because
[27:53] Christ himself has started his church it is not a voluntary institution it is a divine institution it exists by divine right and in many ways it is the only society the only organization not the best word perhaps that exists by divine right now different governments do certainly they have the right but in this sense in this sense that there is one great society and it has been instituted not on earth by men but in heaven by God so we meet together in his name with his command with his mandate secondly if we are gathering in his name we are gathering in union with Christ in his name when we believe in Jesus' name we are believing in him again
[28:57] Murray says that the name stands for the person in all of the richness of his revealed truth and grace the name of Christ or the name of God as we read it so often it stands for all that God is all that Christ is and we gather together in him in him by faith we gather united to him that is how we gather I heard recently of a church that gathers in her own country and in that it's a very small church but in that church there are no professing members there is nobody in that church who would sit at the Lord's table as far as I'm aware there's nobody in that church who claims to be a Christian well if there are no believers in the church if there's nobody in Christ then there's a real sense in which this promise doesn't extend to them
[30:01] I'm not saying that it's not a noble thing that they are doing I'm not saying that their intentions aren't good and right but there's a sense in which if there are none of the Lord's people there it's not truly a church so that's the second thing firstly we gather in the authority by the authority of Christ secondly we gather in union with Christ united to him by faith through his spirit thirdly and this is I suppose related we gather in the unity of the faith in his name we believe certain things concerning him he's not just a name we believe certain doctrines we believe certain things about who he is certain things about what he has done certain things about his word there is a unity of the faith we read in
[31:02] Ephesians chapter 4 that we are to endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace because there is one body and one spirit even as you are all called in one hope of your calling one Lord one faith one baptism one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all one Lord one faith the church is united in what it believes and if we don't believe what the word teaches if we reject the Christ of the word if we reject his person as the word describes it his divinity his humanity if we reject his teaching if we reject his authority his lordship his kingship then this promise doesn't extend to us we cannot say there are many groups which gather together in the name of
[32:03] Christ but we cannot say that Christ is in the midst of a gathering of Jehovah's witnesses or a gathering of Christian scientists so called or a gathering of Roman Catholics or a gathering of liberal Protestants who don't hold to the historic doctrines of the word we have no right to say that they don't truly gather in his name the lord has a name for such they are not the churches of Christ but the synagogues of Satan so that's the third thing there is a unity of the faith in his name the fourth thing is perhaps not the most important but in some ways the most relevant if we gather in his name then we come here this evening or to any gathering of the lord's people we come to meet with
[33:05] Christ we have this purpose we have this expectation this is speaking about our intention when we meet with the lord's people and that's why it's important that we understand that there are times when the lord's people meet together and if we're honest we don't have this intention and that's not wrong there are times when you meet together in friendship there's times when you meet together for business there's times when you meet together for lunch or coffee or whatever it might be to discuss what's happening in the community and there are perhaps two or three of you and you're Christians and you're gathered together but you truly gather together in his name well no but there are times when you do gather together in his name there are times when you're coming to church and you come to worship there are times when you go to the prayer meeting there are times when you meet together in fellowship perhaps some of you from the congregation here and that is different altogether you have a particular intention where two or three are gathered together in my name there am
[34:16] I in the midst of them well you want to meet with Christ who is in the midst who promises to be there to meet you there and this is of great importance because surely if we're gathering in Christ's name this is why we're gathering to meet with him in the Old Testament the believers at times they would meet together at the tent of meeting they called it at the tabernacle the tent of meeting why was it the tent of meeting because they met one with another well perhaps secondarily but primarily it was because here they met with God they came to meet with God well friends Christ is that tent he is the tent of meeting he is the New Testament tabernacle he is the one that fulfills that symbol and we come to the tent of meeting we come to him to meet with him let me ask you when you came out here this evening did you expect to encounter the living
[35:22] God did you expect to meet with Christ was that your anticipation was that your hope well if you're not looking for that we can't presume on this promise we should never plead this promise thoughtlessly I suppose if we're pleading it we're not doing it thoughtlessly we should never quote it thoughtlessly we should never take it for granted that Christ is our hope it is our prayer we have our right to plead it and we even have our right to expect that the Lord will fulfill that promise and that Christ will be here but surely we cannot say orthodox as a church might be filled with the Lord's people as a church might be we cannot say that if that church is sleepy if that church is worldly if the members of that church are sitting and they're thinking about sheep and about tractors and about cars and about the workplace what right have we to say that Christ is there in the midst ah but friends if their great desire if their motivation for coming if their anticipation is to meet with the living
[36:35] God surely then he will be there we have a right to expect him to be there finally then friends the substance of the promise ah there am I in the midst of them what do we mean by this the presence of Christ in our midst in the gathering we know what I suppose what it does not mean we know that the Lord is everywhere that he is omnipresent we know also that he is always with the believer in a particular way in which he is not with the unbeliever he can say to us I will never leave thee nor forsake thee but it is neither of these things these things we can take for granted these things are in particular to the two or to the three so what does this mean well it must mean that there is a special presence of
[37:42] God when we are gathered together that there is something here that you are not going to get elsewhere or somewhere that is not a church there is something that you can get with the Lord's people that you will not get without the Lord's people you can be a Christian and essentially live in exile but you will not get the full blessing that the Lord bestows upon his gathered people you will be missing a great deal you know King David in his own exile he knew God to be with him he was able to pray to God he was able to ask things of God and yet we read in Psalm 42 and elsewhere that his soul thirsted to appear before the living God his soul thirsted for Jerusalem why for the people for his palace for his comforts well to an extent but that's not what he says his soul thirsted for for the temple for the place where
[38:54] God was for the place where his people gathered and he could recall making his way up at the time of festival with the Lord's people to be with the Lord and what a joy that was and what a blessing that was because David knew there there there was something special about the way in which God met with his people in his house when they were gathered together he knew that he knew that there was something different what exactly it is I don't deny that there is an element of mystery and that it passes understanding and that in some respects it is better felt than tell in some respects but there are things that we can know about not just because we've experienced them but because the word describes them one of the great Old Testament refrains is that the Lord is in the midst of thee that was said about
[39:57] Jerusalem that was said about the Lord's people as they traveled the children of Israel as they journeyed through the wilderness and the Lord was in the midst of them as a pillar of fire by night cloud of smoke by day and William Hendrickson he says that the the the Lord being in the midst of his people it speaks about particularly the imparting of strength of direction of protection of consolation that is not exhaustive but these are some of the things that the Lord gives to his people when he is with them a strength a boldness a courage a direction a wisdom a knowing where to go a protection a defending them from their enemies a consolation comforting them drawing near to them blessing them building them up in their most holy faith and if that was true for the
[41:03] Old Testament church how much more so for the New Testament church how much more so for us when we gather together the Lord gives us we could say what we get at home but in greater measure he comes in a special way he comes with special blessing he comes Christ is in the midst by his word and the word comes alive and the preaching of the word speaks into your very heart and soul and he comes by his spirit so that you know that the living God is near that he is with you he causes our hearts to burn within us he causes us to realize that he has been walking with us and talking with us in the way he enables us to say that with Jacob surely the Lord is in this place and I knew him not how dreadful is this place how awesome is this place this is none other but the house of
[42:10] God and this is the gate of heaven have you ever felt that when you've been with the Lord's people that I've been in the house of God tonight I have been at the gate of heaven the Lord was there and like Peter I felt how good it would have been if we could have stayed there if we could have built three tabernacles well such is a blessing that the Lord offers to his people and there are many implications that we can take from it let me just maybe take two and the first is that this is what we want for our churches we want God to be here this is what we want to be known for it's easy to be distracted you know I was a bit distracted myself on the way down here this evening when I was seeing all the flickering lights in tongue and in grass and different places and you are looking to one side at all these beautiful lights and well you are not doing what you ought to do you are taken up with all that glitters all that is shiny instead of looking on the road how like that we can be as churches we can be taken up with things we can be taken up with what glitters what looks good what makes us feel good what entertains us but is this not what we want this is not what we want our churches to be places where we come in here and they can say this is a strange place the people are strange
[43:52] I saw something I felt something I heard something here that I don't get anywhere else I don't get on the telly I don't get out in the pub and storn away there's something different what is it well does Paul not tell the Corinthians about if the church is operating as it ought to operate preaching that if an unbeliever comes in that the secrets of his heart will be made manifest and so falling down on his face he will worship God and report that God is in you of a truth is that not what we want friends people to come here and not just say well a friendly bunch friendlier than I thought they were going to be interesting sermon nice singing well it would be good if they could say that would it not be better still if as well as saying these things they could say there
[44:53] I met God because God is in the Christ is in the midst of these people what what what a privilege what condescension on the part of Christ that he should come and be with us that Lord's day by Lord's day that week mid week by mid week that Christ should come here and meet with you what I thought this is the final thing and I close with this and I suppose it's an exhortation if you love the Lord you will do all that you can to be where he is if you love Christ if you want to see Jesus then you will be in the place where the two or three are gathered in his name I met with a woman from back actually this week in a home and she had tears in her eyes because she couldn't get to church anymore and she wanted nothing more than to be in church she spent her life in church and now she couldn't go she wasn't fit she had tears in her eyes she knew what she was missing how much do we value friends the gathering of the
[46:13] Lord's people more so how much do we value the presence of Christ you know if God willing a minister is settled with you here in this you will be here every time he is I hope every time the minister stands in this pulpit you will be here not because you want to support the minister I hope you do want to support the minister it's a noble motivation but more than that you will be here because you hope you anticipate you expect that Christ is here how could you not be here why would you not be in church what could possibly keep you a Christian who loves the Lord from a prayer meeting when you believe when the word of God tells you that where the two or three are gathered together in his name even on a snowy evening that Christ is there in the midst I was baptized by the
[47:14] Reverend Angus Smith who many of you will remember I can't often I didn't hear him often as an adult preaching but I heard him once in Glasgow when he told a story and I'll close with this of a man from Shawbust and his sons were fishermen and it was a Wednesday night the night of the prayer meeting a Wednesday afternoon and the sons came in they'd been fishing so this is going back a number of decades they'd been fishing and their nets were all tangled and in a mess and that was his duty he didn't go out to fish with them anymore he was too old but his duty was to fix the nets so he got to working on the nets and the hours were passing by and it was Wednesday night the night of the prayer meeting and he said to himself at about six o'clock he said you know what I can't go to the prayer meeting tonight I can't let them down I've just got to finish this so kept on working on till it came to seven o'clock quarter past seven perhaps and then a verse came to him from
[48:26] John chapter at 20 but Thomas one of the twelve the son of Didymus was not with them when Jesus came and he thought to himself what if tonight is the night when Jesus comes to our prayer meeting and I like Thomas wasn't there well like others before him he forsook his nets and he followed Jesus the Lord would grant that we would do the same amen let us pray gracious and ever blessed God bless to us thy holy truth we plead the promise that we have been considering that where two or three are gathered together in Christ's name that he is here in the midst what a privilege is ours this evening bless us then in all that remains and forgive us graciously for sin for
[49:29] Christ's sake amen we're going to sing together in psalm 27 singing from verse 4 one thing I of the Lord desired and will seek to obtain that all days of my life I may within God's house remain that I the beauty of the Lord behold may admire and that I in his holy place may reverently inquire for he in his pavilion shall me hide in evil days in secret of his tent me hide and on a rock me raise and now even at this present time mine head shall lifted be above all those that my foes and round encompass me therefore unto his tabernacle I'll sacrifice his bring of joyfulness I'll sing yea I to God will praise his sing psalm 27 verses 4 to 6 to
[50:34] God's praise one thing I of the Lord desired and will seek to obtain one thing I of the Lord desired and will seek to hold in that hold his hope my life I lay within God's heart sweet veil that I the duty of the Lord be holy and ever sprang COVID and...
[51:20] deservejobosi His father shall be hiding evil days.
[51:45] In secret all his dead behind and on our own be raised.
[51:59] And now in at this present time my head will be filled with fear.
[52:12] And the hosts that are my hosts are round encompassing.
[52:25] Therefore as good as travel, the sacrifices bring.
[52:39] All joyful mess I'll sing, yea I, to your world places sing.
[52:50] Amen.