[0:00] of communion. Well friends, we're going to worship God. We're going to sing to his praise from Psalm 93 and sing Psalms. That's on page 1, 2, 3. Psalm 93, reading at the beginning of the Psalm.
[0:16] The Lord is King, his throne endures, majestic in his height. The Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength and might. The world is founded firm and sure, removed it cannot be. Your throne is strong and you are God from all eternity. We're going to sing the whole Psalm to the praise of God, standing to sing, the Lord is King, his throne endures.
[0:44] The Lord is King, his throne endures, my best king in his height. The Lord is robed in my grand 후 great by the sea, the Lord isام and sure, he is." And should we live with that, and not be, your throne is strong, and you are gone from all eternity.
[1:55] The seats, O Lord, have lifted up, they lifted up their voice.
[2:15] The seats have lifted up their waves, and hit a mighty noise.
[2:34] The Lord entrown on highest throne, more powerful is He, and thunder of the ocean's waves, our bakers of the sea.
[3:09] Your royal statues, Lord, stand firm, and changing is your word, and holiness adorns you out for endless days, O Lord.
[3:46] Let's unite our hearts in prayer. Let's join together in prayer. Gracious and ever-blessed God, we seek this evening hour to come before you and to worship you.
[4:12] We seek that in our hearts you would be high and lifted up, that you would be at the center of our affections, that you would be at the center of our worship.
[4:31] And as we reflect upon our lives in this world, even in the week that has gone by, we confess that we are people who are all too often so taken up with the things of time and of sense, those things that we are rightly taken up with in terms of fulfilling that calling to do all as unto yourself.
[5:03] But nonetheless, we praise you, O Lord, that in your love and in your mercy, you've given to us these oases in the desert, these times where we can refresh our souls around word and sacrament.
[5:21] And so help us, we pray, as we come this weekend to remember your death until you come again, that we might by your spirit be enabled anew to draw with joy from the wells of salvation.
[5:40] And what depth of nourishment is to be found there for our souls as we reflect upon the portion and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who came into this world as a ransom for many, taking to himself the punishment that was due to his people, taking to himself the depths and darkness and depravity of that hell that should have been ours.
[6:12] What a wonder it is, as we reflect upon who you are and what you have done, that you chose us at all.
[6:25] But the greatest wonder of all is that tonight our righteousness is not found in anything that you saw in us, in your eternal love, but rather in your eternal love, a love that is founded between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a love that from the endless ages of eternity had each and every one of your people named and called to yourself.
[6:56] And so we praise you, Lord, for this. And as we reflect upon the security, the eternal security that belongs to your people, help us then to come boldly to our throne of grace.
[7:11] We look within our own hearts and we see nothing but darkness and death and decay in many ways, but yet we're reminded of the reality that we are to, for every look to self, have ten looks to Christ.
[7:30] And so we pray that during this day, this weekend rather, that this would be our testimony, that our eyes would be firmly fixed upon Jesus, that you would reveal yourself to us through the glorious lattice that is your word, a word that reveals to us that great narrative of redemption, a word that reveals something to us of the glory of who you are.
[8:04] And we praise you, O Lord, that you have revealed yourself to us in a way that we can understand, a God who is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, one who inhabits eternity, one whose greatness is beyond all measure, but yet one who has condescended to speak to us through words.
[8:30] And so we pray that that indeed would be the case this evening, that you would fulfill your promise to your people, that were two or three gathering your name, that you were there in their midst, that we would all be here in the name of Jesus Christ and none other, and that in being here in your name, that your Holy Spirit would incline our ear into your voice, open our hearts to receive your word, a word that would nourish us and feed us and enable us to grow in knowledge and in grace.
[9:06] For how we need strength as sojourners through this scene of time, we confess that perhaps even tonight we are those who find ourselves as weak and weary, those who are struggling, as it were, to put one spiritual foot in front of another.
[9:25] And so we pray, O Lord, that you would be pleased in your love and in your mercy to reveal to us this evening the strength that is not found in ourselves or our providence or anything else in this world, but in the one who cried out, it is finished.
[9:45] We pray, O Lord, this evening for any who are gathered who are perhaps as of yet to come and to publicly profess your name as their Lord and their Saviour, those who know you in their hearts and in their minds but are yet to come and take that public step of professing your name before this congregation.
[10:09] We pray, O Lord, that they would do so, that they would not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but rather that they would take this step of obedience for the one who was obedient even to that death on the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ.
[10:31] Take from them any whispers from the evil one who desires nothing more than to keep us back, to slow us down, to refrain us from taking any step that brings glory to your name, that he would be banished by your spirit, that our dear unprofessing Christian friends here this evening would take that step of faith in the full and experiential knowledge that blessing follows obedience.
[11:02] And if there are any here who are yet to come and to taste and to see that God is good, that you might speak to them also, for it is indeed told us in your word that today is the day of salvation, that your Holy Spirit would apply this word to them also, so that we might even know of a new birth here this evening where a soul would be taken from death to life, from darkness to your own most marvelous light.
[11:33] And so we pray for this congregation, we give thanks for them and for their new minister, that you would be with them together as they go forward with the work of the gospel in the years that lie ahead, that your hand would truly be upon them in blessing and that they would see much fruit for their labor with men and women, boys and girls, coming and joining in the glorious good news of the gospel and good news that tells us that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by for sinners such as we are.
[12:09] Be with us then in the reading and singing of your word and forgive us for Jesus' sake. Amen. Well, we're going to sing once again, friends, this time from Psalm 125 in the Scottish Psalter.
[12:22] Psalm 125. That's on page 419.
[12:35] They in the Lord that firmly trust shall be like Sion Hill, which at no time can be removed, but standeth ever still.
[12:49] As round about Jerusalem the mountains stand all way, the Lord has folk doth compass so from henceforth and for a.
[13:01] We're going to sing the whole psalm, standing to sing to the praise of God. They in the Lord that firmly trust shall be like Sion Hill. Then the Lord that firmly trust shall be like Sion Hill, which at no time can be removed, O Lord that stands for the Lord that standeth ever still.
[13:43] As round about Jerusalem the mountains stand all way, The Lord is full, doth compass so, not henceforth and for a.
[14:14] o on innes road upon the lot Of just men shall not lie Let's righteous man set forth their hands unto iniquity.
[14:47] Do thou true, O Lord, stop me good, thy goodness for me part.
[15:04] And do thou good, O Lord, stop me good, thy right within their heart.
[15:21] Let thou'st search as turn aside after their crooked way.
[15:38] God shall lead forth with wicked men, on his land he shall stay.
[15:59] Well friends, we're going to turn now to read the word of God together. We're going to read from the first letter of John and chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2.
[16:14] If you're using the Pew Bibles, that's on page 959. 1 John chapter 2.
[16:28] Let us hear the word of God. 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.
[16:46] But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is a propitiation for our sins.
[16:59] And not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
[17:11] Whoever says, I know him, but does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.
[17:25] By this we may know that we are in him. Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
[17:35] Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.
[17:47] At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
[18:00] Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.
[18:16] But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
[18:27] I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.
[18:39] I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.
[18:54] I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. Do not love the world or the things in the world.
[19:08] If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eye, and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but it is from the world.
[19:22] And the world is passing away along with its desires. But whoever does the will of God, abides forever. Children, it is the last hour.
[19:35] And as you have heard, that Antichrist is coming. So now many Antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us.
[19:49] For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain, that they are all not of us.
[20:00] But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
[20:19] Who is the liar, but he who denies that Jesus is Christ? This is the Antichrist. He who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father.
[20:32] Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.
[20:48] And this is the promise that he made to us. Eternal life. And I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
[21:00] But the anointing that you receive from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But it is his anointing. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie, just as it is taught you, abide in him.
[21:22] And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink from him in the shame of his coming.
[21:34] For you know that he is righteous, that you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
[21:47] Amen. We pray the Lord's blessing upon that portion of his own holy word. Before we come and consider a section of that chapter together, we're going to sing once more, this time in Psalm 34.
[22:03] And sing Psalm, Psalm 34, on page 40 of the Blue Psalm Books, reading at the beginning of the Psalm. At all times I will bless the Lord, I'll praise him with my voice, because I glory in the Lord, let troubled souls rejoice.
[22:25] Together let us praise the Lord, exalt his name with me. I sought the Lord, his answer came, from fears he set me free.
[22:37] We're going to sing down to the end of the verse, Mark 9, to the praise of God, standing to sing, at all times I will bless the Lord. But all times I will bless the Lord, I'll praise him with my voice, because I glory in the Lord, and thou wilt souls rejoice.
[23:26] Together let us praise the Lord, exalt his name with me.
[23:43] I sought the Lord, his answer came, from fears he set me free.
[24:01] of coins I will bless the Lord, their prayer he set me free. And I have been blessed, And I have believed in me.
[24:19] The error I do, is 아니야 when it's harm. And I have been blessed, for me to be house there is soprattutto where I live with morn. So my community, why would I guide him for now and I will live with your words now.
[24:30] From him deliverance came The angel of the Lord Serbs and guards Continually All those who fear And honour him He sets his people free And his hands see The Lord is good Who trusted him
[25:32] With his place For hear the Lord You sick, swift need You will not be oppressed Well friends let's turn back together for a short time this evening to the chapter we read 1 John chapter 2 1 John chapter 2 and I'd like us to take our text this evening from the words that we have in verses 1 and 2 1 John chapter 2 verses 1 and 2 My little children I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin But if anyone does sin
[26:35] We have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous He is the propitiation for our sins And not for ours only And not for ours only But also for the sins of the whole world There is something friends in the heart of mankind that loves to see justice There is something friends in the heart of mankind that loves to see justice We like to see justice It is important to us We see this We see this do we not Even in the fact that many trials over the years have been televised Trials where perhaps we have tuned in and we have watched and we have waited for a verdict To see whether someone is guilty or not And perhaps we have made up our own mind as to whether they are guilty or they are not
[27:37] We love to see the fulfilment of justice Well tonight friends as we come to this chapter that we have before us What we find is a trial We find a court case But the trial that we have before us here friends is perhaps a little bit different to any trial that we have seen televised in the past Why?
[28:06] Well because instead of you and me being spectators Looking at a trial and casting our own opinions as to who is guilty, who is not guilty Instead what we find is that here tonight in this trial is you and me And really that's why we are here this weekend is it not?
[28:33] Because of this trial Because of the result of this trial Because of the glorious reality that divine justice has been satisfied That's the only way that we can confidently come forward and profess the Lord to be our saviour And so considering for a short time this courtroom scene Friends what I'd like us to do is to hang our thoughts on three simple headings First of all we're going to think about the crime that we've all committed Secondly we're going to think about the courtroom scene that's before us here And what's happening in this courtroom And then lastly we're going to think about the conclusion of the matter The crime, the courtroom and the conclusion Firstly then the crime Why is it that you and me with you
[29:34] Why is it that tonight we are all as it were in the chapter set before us on trial? Well to understand really where John is coming from here It's helpful for us first of all just to set these verses in their immediate context John is writing to a particular set of believers He's writing to the early church And he's writing to those believers in the early church Who are beginning to see a particularly dangerous error Just creeping in this particular sin That was finding a footing within society And perhaps even within the church What was it?
[30:22] Well it was that which was known as Gnosticism Now Gnosticism takes many different forms But basically it's the Greek word for knowledge Gnosticism, knowledge But why was it so dangerous?
[30:41] Why was it so sinful? Why was Gnosticism such a threat to the early church? Well quite simply Gnostics believed that the physical realm was evil Anything in the physical realm was sinful And that which was in the spiritual realm was good So anything physical was evil Anything spiritual was good And we might say well that's good We can go along with that We agree with that We put our amen to that We can so easily make idols of the physical things of this world We can so easily abuse the things of this world So that they become sinful And so we understand where the Gnostics were coming from But that's not the tact that they were taking Because in declaring that everything physical was evil Everything The logical conclusion was that
[31:43] Jesus Christ himself could not be physical For Jesus Christ to have taken to himself Bone of her bone and flesh of her flesh That in itself would have been sinful Sinful And so essentially what the Gnostics were doing Was they were denying the person The humanity of Jesus Christ himself And to deny the person To deny the humanity of Jesus Was to deny the whole gospel Of course for Jesus It's not to have been physically man And only spiritual Would have been for him not to To experience the punishment That sin deserved If he didn't take to himself Physical pain Physical suffering Physical hell If it was all just a spiritual apparition It wouldn't have been that Divine justice was satisfied It just wouldn't have happened
[32:45] But more than that friends The people who subscribe to this doctrine As well as denying the person of Christ What they did was They used this to their own sinful advantage They used this as a loophole For them to be able to sin Because they maintained Well everything physical is evil And it's only the spiritual realm that counts We're not in the spiritual realm And so really we can do anything we want We can sin freely Without any repercussions It's fine We can do what we want When we become spiritual beings All will be well But until then We will eat and drink And be merry So that's why John's writing to these believers He's writing to them To remind them And to encourage them He's writing to them To remind them Of the person And of the work Of the Lord Jesus Christ
[33:46] And we cannot be reminded Often enough Of the person And of the work Of the Lord Jesus Christ We Those of us here tonight Who are Christians Who are professing Christians We call ourselves Christians Of course we do And we go through Various Christian activities Week on week Undoubtedly we do But yet we forget We forget What is at the centre Of who we are And what we are all about We forget About the glorious reality And implications Of the person And of the work Of the Lord Jesus Christ And so John is reminding them He's reminding us He's reminding them To guard them From this heresy That's why he starts off The chapter with these words My little children These things I write to you So that you may Not sin So that you may Not sin So that you don't Fall into this error That's doing
[34:47] The rounds as it is As it was rather That you don't Fall into this sin That would completely Undermine Your faith Now at this point You might be sitting And thinking Well that's good And well that's fine These Gnostics They were guilty Of that sin We are not As far as we know That's not a threat That's around us today So why did you say At the beginning We all of us Here tonight Find ourselves In this courtroom Why are we all Under trial As it were In this chapter Well we might not be Out and out Gnostics friends We might not be those Who say that we can sin Or As antinomians Modern day Antinomians do Who say that Because we're under grace We can sin That's a real thing People will say
[35:47] That because we're Under grace We're quite free to sin We can do what we want There are those Who profess to be Christians Who say that To be true We might not identify As those But yet the reality is Friends Is it not And we need to remember The crime Before we come on To the conclusion At the end The reality is That we find ourselves Nonetheless Gravitating towards sin It doesn't matter How long you've been On the road Perhaps you've been On the road 50, 60 years But is it not so That in your heart At times Sin is like a magnet It's pulling you There's a draw Make no mistake about it There is pleasure To be found in sin That's why we are Those who are sinning In our thoughts In our words In our actions Day after day After day We're gravitating Towards it Paul himself Struggled with this The good that I want To do
[36:47] I don't do it The evil I don't Want to do That's what I keep Finding myself doing That's the apostle Paul himself We're all guilty Of that crime Of committing Sin But John says No Don't have this Light view Of sin Don't have this Light view Of sin That these Gnostics Around you Do Don't do it Why?
[37:18] In order to To drain Any Last Drop of joy From your life Is that why He's saying this Well far from it But rather In fleeing From sin In fleeing From that Which cost our Saviour so much We become more And more Conformed To his Image Isn't that what we want?
[37:44] To be more like him? To be more Conformed To his Image That as we Resist The devil We're giving As it were Space To the Holy Spirit To shape us And to mould us Through sanctification Because that's what Sin does When we're giving Place to it Willingly Indulgingly That Gaelic word Mugh It's a really Descriptive word You're stifling The spirit You're keeping The spirit Away in me With you You're grieving The spirit When we allow Sin to have A foothold In our life My little Children I'm writing These things To you So that you May not sin Is it easy?
[38:31] No it's not Is the bar Set high? Undoubtedly It is And a bar That if we're Being truly Honest with Ourselves Tonight We We can never Hope To reach I wonder Are you sitting Here feeling Discouraged And deflated At this point You might even Be thinking Well essentially We've all Just been set Up To fail We can never Meet this So what's the Point of any Of this We've been Set up to Fail by John We've been Set up to Fail even By God Himself He set a Level that We can never Ever reach So what's The point And had John left That statement Hanging And if he Had just Gone straight To verse Three We might Quite rightly Say well What's The point And if he
[39:31] Did We would Quite rightly Say what's The point Why Because we Will be Left with The law But not The gospel Of course We need to Know the law We've just Looked at That The state Of our Hearts By nature But we Can never Ever Friends Be left Only With the Law We are Not here In a Synagogue Sermon Tonight We are Here as Those who Have that Glorious Gospel Of Jesus Christ As our Hope He doesn't Leave it There And that's Why John Calvin says That in These verses We have The son Of almost All The gospel You see This isn't Some cold Authoritarian Demand That's not What this Is And this Is so Interesting It's Really Interesting Just We look at Words And we're Familiar with Them And we Maybe skip Over them
[40:31] And we Don't give Much thought To the way They're presented Before us But just Look at the First three Words of Chapter two My Little Children Is this Not the Heart of A loving Pastor Is this Not the Heart of Someone who Cares for Those whom He's Writing to My Little Children This isn't A cold Detached Demand This is a Loving Desire for Those whom He cares Infinitely For My Living My Little Children And you Know friends Sometimes It's not What we Say It's how We say It That's Just so Important John is Not holding Back And neither Should he And neither Should I Or your Minister Or anyone Else On the Importance Of fleeing From sin Sin is Not good Sin slows
[41:33] Us down It holds Us back It takes Our eyes From the Cross It takes Our eyes From our Saviour And so we We make No bones About that But the Importance Of how We say It Should never Be underestimated Because John Here he does So in that Spirit of Love My Little Children And this Is a Lesson for Us all As Christians How often Has advice Perhaps not Been heeded From our Mouth Perhaps to Those around Us Why Not because Of what We've said But because Of how We've said It That tone Of pride Or arrogance That doesn't Really come From or doesn't Appear at least To come from The heart of Someone who Actually cares That's why That's why We're reminded In Colossians 4 to
[42:33] Let your Speech Always Be With Grace Let your Speech Always Be With grace And then in Ephesians 4 To speak The truth In love We see that Not only With John But we see It with Paul We see It throughout The pages Of scripture The way That those Who are Addressing The Lord's People Just shows That they Care For The Lord's People But not only That Because as well As showing The relationship That John Has For these Believers He also Reminds them With that Pastoral heart That although The ideal Is to try Not to Sin And to Strive To resist The devil Daily So that He will Indeed Flee From them Although That's what They aim For That's what You and I aim For John Knows That he
[43:33] And the Early church Believers And you And me With them We all Fall So short We see That in These words And if Anyone Sins And if Anyone Sins Now you might Have read Those words And thought Well does That mean That there Are Christians Who don't Sin Is there A point Where we Just can Attain to That means That we Never ever Ever sin Well of course There's not And the Original language The Greek Verb for this It conveys The likelihood That this Will happen In other words This could Say And if Anyone Sins And they Will And so Although John has Set the Bad high As a Loving Pastor He knows The reality He's not Condoning Sin Far from It But yet He knows The reality If anyone Sins And they Will What happens Well eventually We all face The divine Justice
[44:34] Of God That's why We're in this Courtroom Tonight If anyone Sins We will Meet The judgment Of God Himself That is The just Demands That our Sin Requires So how do we Stand a chance We might ask Well let's Come to our Second point And let's Look at the Courtroom And let's See who's In the Courtroom God is A judge You and I By nature We are On trial For our Sin How can We plead Our case What can We do To As it Were Plead The fact That we're Innocent Well Nothing We know That There's Nothing That we Can Say or Do To plead Ourselves As being Innocent And in
[45:34] Fact if We We come And if We try To represent Ourselves Before God And try And plead Our own Goodness We're not Going to Get Very Far But so Where do We go Well we Go do we Not as we Survey this Courtroom We go To our Defense Lawyer Who is Our defense Lawyer Our Advocate We Have an Advocate With the Father Jesus Christ The Righteous What does The word Advocate Mean And again We have These words In scripture And we Know them But perhaps We need Just to Refresh Our minds And unpack Exactly What they Mean So here We are In the Courtroom Ourselves God the Judge And we Have the Advocate We have The defense Lawyer Well the Word advocate Literally
[46:34] Means It's a lovely Picture It literally Means to Come Along Side Now in Greek law If you were Accused of A crime You would Be asked To bring With you Your best Friend Your best Friend would Come as it Were to Be your Lawyer Your advocate And the Fact that a Friend would Come and Appear with You and Speak for You would Be proof Of true And lasting Friendship What does Say here We have An advocate And so In layman's Terms John is Saying that This means That we Have a Lawyer We have Jesus Christ the Righteous One Pleading Our case Your case And mine At the Bar of God's Divine Justice But more Than that That's what Makes this Different More than That this Lawyer Is our
[47:35] Friend The Lord Jesus Christ The friend Of sinners The one Who comes Along Side As the One Who sticks Closer To us Than any Brother I wonder When was the Last time You thought Of the Lord Jesus In those Terence As your Friend Is he Your friend What do You do With a Friend You spend Time with Them You communicate With them You long To be With them Is he Your friend Tonight Or is it So that In our Hearts And I Include Myself In this Also Is it So in Our Hearts We have Relegated The Lord Jesus Christ More to A concept Than a Person And a Friend We know About him We read About him We know About him In our Head We know What he's Done But is He your Friend That's Something we
[48:36] Need to Come back To day After day After day And so What does he Say as The one Who's Coming In our Defense What does He have To say At the Bar of God's Divine Justice Well Does he Come and Say well So and so Has been Attending Church Morning and Evening For years And years And years And sometimes Even on Midweek as Well Or does he Say well That person See that Person there They read They read Their bible From genesis To revelation Every year Without fail They go Through the Machine bible Reading plan They know Their scripture Inside out Or does he Say well See that Person there They pay The church They're really Good at Giving to The church Is that What he Does Or does he Say look At that Person That person Fries so Hard and Able to Break the Sabbath Is that What he Says Well no
[49:36] It's not What he Says And we Thank the Lord Tonight That that Is not What he Says Why Because our Righteousness No matter What they Look like To the Outside World Our Righteousness Are as Filthy Rags That vivid Picture of A soiled Garment So that Everything we Seek to Do In our Own Strength It's not Acceptable To god Why Because it's So full Of our Own Pride And our Own Arrogance Even the Good things That we Seek to Do And that's A bitter Pill to Swallow And you Might be a Non-Christian Here tonight And think Well Come on I try so Hard to Do my Best Well friends That's the Whole point Your best Is not Good enough And if You're Trying hard To do Your best To get To know The lord As your Saviour You will Never Know The lord As your Saviour Because the
[50:36] Reality is There is No defence Now all of These things I mentioned Are good Things Absolutely Keep doing Them But they're Not the Things that Are going To let Us As it Were Know God Through Christ There is No Defence And the Sooner we Realise that The better How long Have you Been Coming Here Friend What does The gospel Mean to You What is The gospel To you If I was To ask You one On one What is The gospel Would you Reel off That list Of things That you Must do Or is it More than That Surely It's more Than that And that The sooner We realise That it's More than That The sooner We will Lay hold Of the Fullness Of what Is on Offer To us Tonight In Christ Because there Is nothing In our Words Or our Actions That can Ever Appease God As divine Judge
[51:36] And so are we all Lost causes Tonight Well no Of course we're not Because we have the law But yet we have the gospel Do we not And the answer Friends It lies in Verse 2 He is The propitiation For Our Sins Propitiation That's a An interesting word What does it mean It's not a word That we hear Every day It's important for us To know What these words Mean We can over Complicate These words As well And we must Never do that Because the word Propitiation Literally means To appease To appease Now I don't know If you Well I do know Because we're all Sinful human beings If you've ever Upset someone If you've hurt them If you've angered them You've regretted it You knew that you did wrong And so In order to restore That relationship What did you do You maybe give a gift
[52:37] A peace offering You wanted to appease That person And so you gave them Something Even if it was just The peace offering Of a sincere apology And so you give That thing To them And when you do them Do this You and that person Not always But you would hope Are reconciled And that's what we see here Because by nature We are estranged from God We have this great gulf Between us And God We are sinners That's why we find ourselves In this courthouse tonight We are separated from God But yet the glorious reality Is that not only Is Jesus our advocate Not only is he the one Who comes alongside us He's also our propitiation He is the greatest gift offering He is the one who died So that we might live The offering that has appeased
[53:38] The wrath of God Towards us as sinners Isn't that something? The one who is continually Making intercession On our behalf As our propitiation As our gift offering What does it mean To continually make intercession On our behalf?
[54:05] Well redemption has been Accomplished on the cross And it's being applied Is it not? That propitiation That propitiation That gift offering Is being applied It's being accomplished On the cross But now it's being applied At the right hand Of the Father One commentator says this In essence He that is Jesus In essence He shows his pierced hands And feet And wounded side And says as it were Father Father I have paid The price of their sin These marks Testify That I have suffered The wrath And judgment That their sin Deserved And so his very presence Is an act Of intercession That's what we have Confidence in Tonight Dear friends We read in Revelation
[55:06] The same John He saw a lamb As he had that vision Of heaven He saw a lamb As though It were slain What does that mean?
[55:19] Could this be a symbol Of the crucified Christ? Who knows? Quite possibly And what about the Father Though in all of this?
[55:31] We need to To remember the Father Because there's that Temptation Is there not? To As we think about All of this We see The Lord Jesus Christ Willingly Being that propitiation Being an advocate And then we have God the judge And we think of God the judge And perhaps we think That God the judge Is grudgingly Letting us through Because Jesus Has rushed To our defence Pleading on our behalf Please, please, please Save this person That our loving son Wins over Our reluctant father But that's not The way it is Because God the Father Is in all of this Just as much What does John 3.16 say?
[56:20] For God so loved The world That he gave He gave That's a propitiation His will only Begotten son So that whosoever Believes in him Should not perish But have Everlasting life So that Christ Is the Father's Gift of love To you And To me That brings us To the last part Of verse 2 In our third And very, very Brief point The conclusion Of the matter He is the propitiation Of our sins And not for ours only But also For the sins Of the whole world Sins of the whole world Does this mean that The death of Jesus Covered the sins Of every person In the world?
[57:15] Well if it did mean that It would mean that Jesus was the propitiation For every person In the world And if he was the propitiation For every person In the world There would be Universal atonement Everyone would be saved I wouldn't need to Stand here tonight To preach the gospel That's not what it means The whole world here Means that That the sacrifice That Christ made And this is to do With the immediate context It wasn't just for Jews It wasn't just for the small group Of first century believers No But this sacrifice That Christ made Was for people Who believed Of every tribe Of every tongue And every nation The whole world This is on offer To every tribe Nation And tongue That's what heaven's like Isn't that wonderful?
[58:14] Not just our culture But every single nation Tribe And tongue That's what the church Is That's what John Murray Called Ethnic universalism That those For who Christ died Would be spread Throughout all the nations Ethnic Universalism So there you have it Friends The standard Is set My little children I am writing these things So that you may Not sin But although the standard Has been set The net Has been set Also That net That catches us When we fall So that the conclusion Of the matter Is that we are safe Again Not to condone Our sins Far from it But yet to encourage us When we sin That we are safe And that we need Not despair That net Of the righteousness Of God In Christ
[59:14] In whom tonight And every other day And night We have If he Is Our advocate We are safe And we Are Secure And because of this Friend Because of this Nobody Absolutely Nobody Least of all That voice That whispers In your ear Can bring a charge To God's Against God's Elect You know The more we reflect On The implications Of this doctrine Of propitiation The more will we not Strive after Renewed Obedience The more we want To seek to turn Our back On sin The more we have The joy Of the Lord As our strength That's why we're here This weekend That's why many of you Will sit at this Lord's table This Lord's day This is important This is where the gospel Can be so misrepresented
[60:15] So misunderstood You might be looking On this table As a non-Christian As a Christian Who's not yet professed And you look And you say Well aren't they holy?
[60:27] Aren't they holy people? Oh if only I could be As holy as them Friends I know What you're saying Is sincere But it's sincerely wrong Because what you're saying There is undermining The cross Of Jesus Christ There is nothing In these people There is nothing In me There is nothing In your minister That makes us Worthy to be At that table Nothing Apart from the fact That he has pleaded Our case That we have An advocate With the father Jesus Christ The righteous So what are you Waiting for Dear Christian friend If you've not Professed Really What are you Waiting for?
[61:20] Are you waiting For some Level of holiness That will be yours Before you come forward? It's never going to happen You come In obedience Trusting That's the essence Of faith You trust In the promises You trust In the person And in the work Don't be like the Gnostics Don't undermine The person And the work of Christ You trust In him And what he has done You come forward In obedience And the blessing Will Follow But before we close Allow me to ask Any tonight Who are Still unable To call Jesus Their father Their friend And their saviour We've heard of the Conclusion of the matter But what's the conclusion Of the matter For you?
[62:18] You're a sinner I'm a sinner Your crime Is that you have sinned Against a holy God God is your judge And no matter what The fact remains That divine justice Must be satisfied You must meet Your maker And you must Give an account Of yourself Before him What are you going to say?
[62:45] Are you going to rely On yourself? Are you going to say Well I tried my best I did X, Y and Z And I wasn't as bad As that person Who actually professed To be a Christian Is that what you're going to say?
[62:59] You see we allow ourselves To go down these Tracks in our hearts And in our minds To justify ourselves Friends it's not going to Wash before a holy God Or can you say Well I am a sinner But I have put my trust In a saviour The saviour That's why we need Jesus That's why you need Jesus Tonight That's the beauty Of the gospel Because it's a gospel That does not Hang us out to dry A gospel That offers Jesus As our advocate Our propitiation Our saviour Our father And our friend If you want him Do you want him?
[63:49] That's what it boils down to Do you in your heart Of hearts want him? Well if you do What's stopping you Committing to him Even tonight Putting your trust In the only one That can not only Plead your case But take Your punishment Come to him Come to him Dear friend Please come to him And cry out for mercy While there is still Time Let us pray Lord how we thank you For your word And I will seek For forgiveness For The fact that we At times can be so Steeped in the law Without the gospel Forgive us oh Lord For having a wrong View of you And for that Which you have Fulfilled on Calvary's hill Giving unto us
[64:49] That new And that living way So that we If we are yours Tonight Can say We are in Christ We thank you For that safety For that security That no matter What befalls us Within or without We can never Be plucked From the Father's hand And as we Delight in this Truth all the more Let us come Forward And let us Worship you We pray These days And on the Lord's day Around word And sacrament Let us say He died For me We pray that you Would bless your Word to us This evening Hour That it might Be applied To our hearts And our minds And that it Might even be Applied for the First time To one Dear soul Here So that they Too would Taste and see That God Is good Partisan with
[65:49] Your blessing Forgive us For all our Many sins In Jesus name We pray Amen Well friends We're going to Conclude singing To God's praise Familiar words From Psalm 121 in the Scottish Psalter A psalm that Reminds us to Yes we need to Examine ourselves But we don't Stop there A psalm that Reminds us to Look beyond Ourselves I to the Hills will lift Mine eyes From whence Doth come Mine aid My safety Cometh from The Lord Who heaven And earth Hath made Listen to these Words of Encouragement Thy foot He'll not Let slide Nor will He slumber That thee Keeps Behold He that Keeps Israel He slumbers Not Nor sleeps Yes we might Slip and slide In terms of Sinning against
[66:50] God But ultimately As I said in prayer We can never Be plucked From the Father's hands So let's Stand to sing These verses The whole psalm I to the Hills Will lift Mine eyes I to the Hills Will lift My eyes From Where Thou Come My Aid My Safety Cometh From The Lord Who Have Not Earth Hath Made Thy Who Till North Hath Sly Nor Will
[67:50] His Slumber Love Be Keeps Behold He That Keeps Israel His Slumber Snot Nor Sleep The Lord He Is The Lord Thy Share On Thy Right And Just Share The Whom Thy Night He Shall He
[68:55] Let Him H die I'm worthy from all ill.
[69:08] Hence for flight, O King, Thou can't live. God keep forever will.
[69:26] Following the benediction, if you'll just allow me to go to the main door to meet you on the way out. Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit, rest on and abide with you now and forevermore. Amen.