[0:00] Well good evening brothers, sisters and friends. It's a reminder of the intimations from the morning but just it's always good to hear them a few times. God willing we should have had notice sheets last Lord's Day but my printer's having a moment these days so but God willing by the new year we'll have a monthly notice sheet at the back door but just until that time Wednesday at 7 30 WFM meeting of course in the hall that's Wednesday 7 30. I'm going forward on the 20th God willing the community carol evening to be held in the community hall at 7 so that's 20th Wednesday 20th at 7.
[0:41] There's good interest already in it so please come along if you can and encourage others to come along. Again we're doing it for one simple reason it's good community engagement and we have some good tracts to give out each seat of our tract a simple gospel message and the word will be read so it's a good time to outreach and to be involved in the community and with that on the 24th Sunday 24th in the morning we'll have our family service again a shortened service a simplified service we had one before already it's the same again geared towards our young friends in particular but a good time to invite perhaps others to church I mean to church for a long time or those you know might be interested in coming to church but who might be worried to come along or scared to come along so as 24th a good chance to invite others around especially those of families perhaps and those with children we are here of course to worship the lord this evening we can do so by singing to his praise in the Scottish Psalter first of all and psalm 89 the Scottish Psalter psalm 89 that's on page 344 of the psalm books
[1:58] Scottish Psalter psalm 89 on page 344 you can sing verses 1 down to verse 6 of the psalm psalm 89 verses 1 down to verse 6 god's mercies i will ever sing and with my mouth i shall by faithfulness make to be known to generations all for mercy shall be built said i forever to endure by faithfulness even in the heavens if i wilt establish sure psalm 89 1 to 6 to god's praise that's all for mercy shall be built said i will ever sing and with my mouth i shall a faithfulness beưởng or love i shall life in faithfulness oh my mother-in-law by coming to a reinforced life in faithfulness oshem.'' o.i.
[2:58] To generations long For mercy shall be built ever Forever to endure Thy faithfulness deep in the hands I will establish you I will my chosen one I'll live back upon Christmas Eve And to my spirit, and to my love
[4:05] To give this for I That guide thy seed He shall be now Forever to remain I will do Generic short soul Life on the build and within The peace is all Thy wonders are The heavens shall express
[5:05] Found in the congregation Of his life in fullness For who in heaven with the arms May one's sin say come here Who is thy book among the sons Of those at mighty hour Let's join together in a word of prayer Let's pray
[6:08] Our glorious and our gracious God We are before you once again this evening And we again give you praise for our time together We thank you for the privilege we have of this opportunity to meet As brothers and sisters and also as friends who gather with us This time of worship We understand we have come many times before some of us Some of us over many decades to many times of worship Help us not to grow too used to it Help us never to lose sight as to the wonder of what is taking place just now That together as brothers and sisters we come around a living word And we meet with a living God Who is in this place at this moment And we can be assured that your presence is here We can know for certain that you are here And not because of any holiness of this building A brick and stone will one day crumble back to the ground again But we can be assured that you are here just now Because your people are here And where your people are your word tells us
[7:11] Because you have made your home in us You dwell within us And because that is true we can know for certain That you have gathered here this evening You have gathered us together to come together as a family to hear your word We thank you for that family reality We are truly brothers and sisters here this evening Every one of us with different personalities Different giftings Different ideas And at times different quirks and different ways of doing things But you brought us together as one family to serve you in this place We once again as we did this morning We do pray for this place We pray for North Tulsa We pray for the place you have placed us Those of us who were born here And those of us who have moved here We are not here by accident We are here because you have chosen for us to be missionaries To this mission field We pray just now for the many homes are represented here We pray for our own family, our own friends
[8:15] Those we love and those we care for deeply We also pray this evening for those who are not represented here For the homes who have no interest and no care of coming near this place of worship We pray for the many in North Tulsa who do not and who have not Ever prayed for themselves We ask Lord for them this evening We ask they would know your peace We ask they would know your love We ask they would know what it is to be known and loved by God But we understand that won't come until they first come to know Jesus as Lord and Saviour And that won't happen until they first come to know their need of Jesus We ask that would be the case even this evening We would hear of good news of some even this evening in this place Or some in our village coming to know Jesus for the first time We understand that there is nothing we can do to transform anyone's life That we can save nobody That for our pleading and our crying there is nothing we can do
[9:19] All we do is point them towards Jesus We are here as aware as signposts We are here as salt and light Here to be living witnesses of our Saviour Help us this week we ask Give us the wisdom what we should say and how we should act Help us to live lives that give glory to Jesus That everything we say and everything we do Would not be a distraction But instead would point people towards Jesus Forgive us Lord we ask for the many times in our witness and our words We are poor examples of what we are supposed to be as Christians The times that by our words and by our actions We bring shame not only on ourselves But we bring shame on the wider church We bring shame to you Forgive us for the times as Christians We have done a danger, done an injury, done damage to the gospel witness in this place Through our conduct, through things we have said and done We ask Lord you would look past these things
[10:23] And we ask you would use us again this new week Use us as bold and brave witnesses to the glorious gospel truth We confess we come this evening with that glorious gospel That there is hope and life and peace to be found in Jesus And in him alone That he alone is the only way to you That through hope in him alone, faith in him alone, trust in him alone And trust in him alone We can have a sure hope of eternal life spent with him We come just now confessing we live in a place We come, some of us from homes We come from a village Where the name of Jesus is not known Where the simple glorious gospel message has not been heard Help us we ask as a congregation of your people To be bold and faithful in sharing that message We pray just now for those of our congregation who are suffering Those here who are your people Who are going through difficult days
[11:27] Those connected to his congregation Brothers and sisters who perhaps can't meet with us as often as they like to But who are with us here this evening as they pray for us, remember us We pray for them, those in our homes and those away from us for various reasons We pray for all who are suffering this evening with physical and mental pain Who are going through trials and going through hard days and going through long days We pray just now for those who are suffering in themselves Those who find themselves perhaps in times of darkness In times of worry, in times of stress and de-stress Lord we ask you to be with them Pray just now for those worried about loved ones for various reasons Pray just now for those in our congregation Worried about their own financial situations Their home situations Worried about their children, their grandchildren Spouses, brothers and sisters, parents We bring the many worries we have this evening before you
[12:30] We can list them one by one Worries which come of each new week We bring them all to the throne of grace just now To that place we find mercy We find help, we find that peace In time of need And we confess we often find ourselves in great times of need I pray just now I pray just now for the gospel cause Not just in North Tolstair but across our island We pray for the gospel cause across the denominations We give you praise that you are not bound to one denomination But you are present and you work every place your people meet to worship you in spirit and in truth We thank you Lord that is the case And we do hear good news stories of some Coming to know you even in our own island in the last few weeks and few months As we pray for ourselves we are a member of a wider gospel cause in Scotland There are so many reasons for us to be so alarmed and so worried of the gospel situation in Scotland
[13:37] But as we read, as we looked at last week You are in it You are building your kingdom You are building your church Even in the quiet days we seem to live in just now Days of small things Days of small gospel progress for us We give you praise that you are still building your church Or we see days of small things in our nation We see across the world your church is growing And it is growing at a rate we have never even begun to imagine would be possible Remember especially once more our brothers and sisters in China In that nation of all the different cultures and subsets of that culture We pray for them just now especially brothers and sisters who You know their names and you know their situation That one area of your people where there are many of your people living But at this moment they are worshipping you as it were still underground We pray for them We pray Lord for the underground churches in that area
[14:41] Some of whom were attacked last week Where your people were dragged out and dragged to prison For no other crime other than proclaiming the Lord Jesus We pray for your people in that place We pray for those just now who are awaiting news of loved ones Who are still in prison Waiting just now to hear news that Whether they will be sentenced for years Or not Or the stress and the worry and the agony of that situation We give you praise that as the government there cracks down On the outward working of the church We hear good news Your church is growing There are many more being added to your church Day after day and week after week With the now hundreds of thousands As far as we can understand Of Christians in that nation We give you praise for it Help us to be encouraged by these incredible numbers That reminder that you are building your church Our very gates of hell will not and cannot prevail against it
[15:44] You will accomplish your perfect plans As we pray Lord for our brothers and sisters We remember just now also those who are suffering in this world We are so mindful of the ongoing conflicts and warfares We are mindful of the ones that are on our news The ongoing conflict in Ukraine The ongoing conflict now in Gaza And those affected in Palestine and in Israel Lord you know the complicated dynamics of these wars You know the many thousands who are affected by it We also remember the wars going on just now that are unknown to us There are so many wars and so many battles going on We would think just now especially of sub-Saharan Africa With the tension in that region growing and growing Attention also in the Balkans again growing and growing Lord we bring these things before you We feel so helpless and so far away and so small The world belongs to you
[16:48] And you are in full control of it We ask Lord we would see days of peace in our time But we know we live in a world that is so tainted by sin As your word even told us this morning So affected by sin Where we hate one another Where we seek to destroy one another Where together we are born and live lives hating you And from that pours out all the evil we see in this world It pains us Lord as we see this evil As we see the bloodshed We come back once more to our knees And we ask Lord that you would bring peace You would bring hope We find that peace this evening in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ The one who is truly King of Kings Who is sovereign over all things The one who as we even read this morning The one who has promised from old The one who has promised to come and be a saviour to his people Help us Lord to find our hope
[17:51] To put our trust Find the Lord joy in him And in him alone The one who comes to save all who cry out to him The one who ignores nobody Who cries out for that salvation We ask that we have a case even this evening Even for some here Even for one here this evening That tonight be the night they cry out for salvation from Jesus And know that he has heard their call And answered them Forgive us our sins Lord We have gone against you in our words And our thoughts and our actions We give you praise as we come just now We come to a saviour who has paved the way for us Through all our sin and our backsliding He has paid the price For all who come to him We can know for certain That the debt of sin is cancelled And he calls us clean He calls us his own We pray these things cling on to him
[18:53] As we know he holds on to us So God these things in and through And for his precious name's sake Amen Let's read in God's word We can read in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 2 Corinthians chapter 5 It's on page 908 of the church bibles 2 Corinthians chapter 5 On page 908 2 Corinthians chapter 5 Let's hear again the word of God For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed We have a building from God A house not made with hands Eternal in the heavens For in this tent we groan Longing to be put on our heavenly dwelling If indeed by putting it on
[19:55] We may not be found naked For while we are still in this tent We groan Being burdened Not that we would be unclothed But that we would be further clothed So that what is mortal May be swallowed up by life He who has prepared us for this very thing is God Who has given us the spirit as a guarantee So we are always of good courage We know that while we are at home in the body We are away from the Lord For we walk by faith not by sight Yes, we are of good courage And we would rather be away from the body And at home with the Lord So whether we are at home or away We make it our aim to please Him For we must all appear Before the judgment seat of Christ So that each one may receive what is due For what he has done in the body Whether good or evil Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord We persuade others But what we are is known to God
[20:57] And I hope it is known to you also To your conscience We are not commending ourselves to you again But giving you cause to boast about us So that you may be able to answer those Who boast about outward appearance And not about what is in the heart For if we are beside ourselves It's for God If we are in our right mind It is for you For the love of Christ controls us Because we have concluded this That one has died for all Therefore all have died And he died for all That those who live May no longer live for themselves But for him Who for their sake died And was raised From now on therefore We regard no one according to the flesh Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh We regard him thus no longer Therefore if anyone is in Christ He is a new creation The old has passed away
[22:00] Behold the new has come All this is from God Who through Christ Reconciled us to himself And gave us the ministry of reconciliation That is In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself Not counting their trespasses against him And entrusting to us the message of reconciliation Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ God making his appeal through us We implore you on behalf of Christ Be reconciled to God For our sake he made him to be sin Who knew no sin So that in him We might become the righteousness of God Amen We give praise to God for his holy and his perfect word Let's again sing this time again from the Psalter But Psalm 111 The Scottish Psalter Psalm 111 Psalm 111
[23:09] Psalm 111 We can sing verses 4 down to verse 10 Of the Psalm That's on page 391 this psalm speaks of just the care and power of god towards his people psalm 111 verse 4 his works most wonderful he hath made to be thought upon the lord is gracious and he is full of compassion he giveth meat unto all those that truly do him fear and evermore his covenant he in his mind will bear psalm 111 verses 4 to 10 to god's praise whose words was wonderful the lord is gracious and he is full of compassion the lord is gracious and he is full of compassion the lord is gracious and he is full of compassion he is the lord is
[24:51] His mind will hear. He gave the power of His heart.
[25:07] A truth is deep of soul. When heavenlyazione des______ Then grazie upon and with the soul.
[25:32] And shン Nghi w Wendy's kingdom God has speak of do not hear the truth DEPUTYortal J/.
[25:55] DEPUTY Jesus He shan't forgets your dear, his home, his garden, I'm calling.
[26:24] He is all mine, O he is here, our heaven is on with.
[26:43] Wish God's be good, he is all here, good understanding it.
[27:01] Have all the hills, the man so filled, his place endures for him.
[27:24] We're coming on our series looking at the names of God. And really, we have four or five readings this evening, so I'll be very short readings. So I'll be jumping around quite a bit.
[27:37] Let's think of a text, we can take the chapter we had, 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21. And while we're jumping around quite a bit, this verse is what summarises our whole sermon.
[27:50] So, as we often do, if nothing else in this sermon, then please, at least, this is what we wanted to go away with. Verse 21.
[28:02] For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
[28:14] We'll cover that more later on, what we mean by that. But in short, this evening we're looking at a number of names of God, the titles of God we find in the Old Testament.
[28:26] We said last week there was quite a few of them, but we'll do this for a few weeks. I won't test you. I don't even remember what we had last week. It was El Shaddai.
[28:40] El Shaddai. Great God. The mighty God. It reminds us that God is powerful. He is eternal in his power. And rather than scaring us, it gives the Christian comfort.
[28:54] If we know him, if we love him, it gives us comfort. For yes, he is eternal and glorious. And yes, he is apart from us. He has made himself known in the person of Jesus.
[29:07] For this evening we come to another title. This one is only used twice in the whole of the Old Testament. But it's actually a name of God I am sure that many of us know quite well.
[29:20] It was made perhaps famous in a hymn written by a well-beloved minister, the late Victorian age, who died very young. Mike Shane.
[29:32] Robert Murray Mike Shane. His most famous hymn. He wrote plenty of hymns actually, but his most famous one. Jehovah Sidkenyu. This evening we are looking at that title of God.
[29:44] Jehovah or Yahweh Sidkenyu as we have it here. Again, it only appears twice in the whole of the Old Testament. And both times are in the book of Jeremiah.
[29:57] Yahweh Sidkenyu. This title which tells us something about God. And God uses this title to tell us something about himself. So what does the name mean, first of all?
[30:10] Well, Jehovah or Yahweh, that's a... There's no distinction there. That's a discussion for another evening. Not for tonight. We can think of it as Yahweh Sidkenyu for this evening.
[30:22] Yahweh, of course, just meaning God. The covenant-keeping God who needs nothing. Who needs no one. He is God. Self-sustaining.
[30:32] Eternal. All the power. All the glory. Yahweh. Yahweh Sidkenyu. Sidkenyu comes from Zedek in Hebrew, which means holiness.
[30:45] Righteousness. He is God who is strong. Who is all self-sustaining. And also he is God who is righteous. He is God who is holy.
[30:57] He is God who is set apart. There is no darkness. There is no sin. He is perfect in everything he is and everything he does.
[31:08] So Yahweh, Jehovah, all-powerful. Sidkenyu, all-perfect. This is a glorious name of God.
[31:19] It gives us the most grand view of God. He is so different to us. He needs no help. He needs no support. He is God.
[31:30] And there is no darkness in him. There is no sin, of course. There is nothing bad about him. Everything he is and does is perfect. It is holy.
[31:41] It is completely righteous. Now we might expect when we see the name of God as all-perfect, all-powerful God, we might think, well, surely the use of that name in Scripture must show us that this God is untouchable.
[31:59] That this God wants nothing at all to do with us. Because, friends and brothers and sisters, myself and yourselves, we are certainly not perfect. We are certainly not untouchable.
[32:11] As we were reminded this morning, the kids talked by one of the boys, there is dust as it were in our houses. There is dust in our hearts. There is things about us we are so ashamed that anyone would see or know about us.
[32:26] We're not holy. We're not perfect. And God is. And the amazing thing is, and the incredible thing we'll see in a second, as we see both the times God calls himself Jehovah Sidkenyu, he does it to show that he is a God who draws close to those who are not perfect, who draws close to those who are not holy.
[32:56] He reminds us in his name that he is perfect. He is holy. But because he loves his people so much, he steps down to show his love and care for us.
[33:10] Both times, the name Jehovah Sidkenyu speaks about the Messiah. We find both times mentioned in a prophecy, looking forward to who the Savior would be and what he would be like.
[33:26] We covered that this morning in another way as we saw some of the Christmas prophecy about Jesus. And here this evening we see another prophecy, two prophecies in Jeremiah, both calling Jesus or naming Jesus as Jehovah Sidkenyu, the perfect one who would come and rescue his people and love his people.
[33:54] And brothers and sisters and friends, as we look at these verses this evening, as the name of Jehovah Sidkenyu, we're reminded that we have a Savior who we can't go towards.
[34:05] We can't impress him enough to get close to him. We can't do enough good works to earn our place in heaven. We can't earn merit, as some other faiths would say.
[34:18] We can't earn merit with God. There's not enough good works to get us closer to God. He came down to us. That's the good news of the gospel.
[34:30] So we see you, Jehovah Sidkenyu mentioned twice. The first time we see it is Jeremiah 23. Let's read the verse to us. Jeremiah 23 and verse 5. Again, it's a prophecy about the Messiah.
[34:43] It tells us about the Messiah himself, what he would be like. So Jeremiah 23, verse 5. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord. I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
[35:03] In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely, and this is a name by which he will be called. The Lord is our righteousness.
[35:16] Jehovah Sidkenyu. We're told a few things. Just a few things. Four or five things about this coming Savior from Jeremiah.
[35:28] Jeremiah. And this wasn't planned. It was only in preparation this week. Both these sermons, the texts were planned a few weeks ago.
[35:39] And only last week, writing these sermons, I realized that the evening sermon and the morning sermon, they go together quite well. God's timing is perfect in all these things.
[35:51] Some reminders here from Jeremiah about what this coming Savior would be like. What Jehovah Sidkenyu, our Savior, would be like. First of all, we see he is from the Lord.
[36:04] Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord. I will raise up a righteous branch. He's from the Lord. We saw that this morning. Yes, Jesus, of course, is born of a woman.
[36:16] Jesus was like us in all ways, and we said this morning, human in his full experience. All the emotional range and experiential range of what it is to be human.
[36:29] But like us, in all ways, apart from sin. And he was, of course, sent from the Lord. The second person of the Godhead.
[36:41] The Son of God. Born into a world he himself had created to become like one of us. Walking, talking, thinking and feeling.
[36:53] Flesh and blood and bone. With emotions and thoughts. The coming Savior Jehovah said, Kenyu, he would be real.
[37:04] He would be human. But he would be sent from the Lord. We could never, of course, hope to save ourselves. God requires perfection for everyone who comes close to him.
[37:16] And because we can never be perfect, there's no way to him. God is perfect. We are not. God cannot be in the presence of anything that is not fully holy.
[37:28] Then what hope do we have? There's a chasm there. We can't begin to go over it. We can't, as I were, bridge the gap. So Jehovah said, Kenyu was sent to us.
[37:40] The righteous one, the perfect one, entered into his own creation. Born into humanity. And lived a very normal, very human life.
[37:52] Like us in all ways, apart from sin. But also Jeremiah tells us, Sent from God, yes, but also Jehovah said, Kenyu, the coming Messiah.
[38:04] He would be a wise and just king. Jehovah said, Kenyu is both wise and he is just. He is wise in that he knows us.
[38:16] We said it this morning. We'll say it again. We can hide things so well, can't we? We ourselves know this. We can put on our suits, our ties, our collar.
[38:27] And we can look the part. We can dress the part. We can act the part. Jehovah said, Kenyu, our Messiah, Jesus. He sees us. He knows us.
[38:38] He sees and knows what no one else sees or knows. Nothing is hidden from him. Quite the opposite. He is God. He sees and understands all that we are.
[38:50] We have a wise king who knows us. Who knows our intentions. Who knows our thoughts. I said it before, but I'll say it again.
[39:02] I remember myself, even before I was saved, and I'm sure we've all done it, those of us here. We've all done the same game that, well, the minister isn't looking at me. Therefore, he's not talking to me.
[39:13] The minister isn't looking at me. Therefore, this bit doesn't apply to me. Like I said before, friends, your minister's blind. I can't see half of you anyway. As best I can.
[39:24] That doesn't matter what I can see. We worship a God who knows and who sees. Who is a wise king. But also who is a just king. As Jeremiah tells us, the coming saviour will be a king who will deal wisely and execute justice and righteousness in the land.
[39:44] He's a just king. There's so much, as we said already this day, this morning, there's so much injustice in the wider world, but also in our own lives.
[39:55] Day to day, week to week, there are folks here, I'm sure, in our congregation, in our community, who are facing great pain and great sadness and who are being wronged in various ways.
[40:06] There is such injustice in this world. And I'm sure we don't know the half of it. We just don't. We come to a saviour who is just.
[40:17] Who brings justice. We sang this morning in Psalm 110, that psalm which talks about Jesus as he would come. And we see a saviour who is kind, who is close, who is caring, but also one who is just.
[40:33] He will bring justice. And all who are evil, all who have wronged, and all who do not trust in him, he will not suffer them. There is great hope and great salvation open to all who come to Jesus at this moment.
[40:50] And that open door is open until he comes again. But once he comes again, that door is closed. And Jehovah said, can you? It will execute his perfect justice perfectly.
[41:01] And fully. He is a human. Born as a human. Fully human and fully God.
[41:12] He is a wise and just king. He is a righteous king. Jehovah said, can you? He is a righteous king. He is what we can never be.
[41:25] He is perfect. He was born perfect. Lived a perfect life. From the temptation to sin he faced, and he faced continual temptation, he did not sin once.
[41:42] He lived the life that none of us could ever hope to live. On that cross he was the perfect, spotless sacrifice.
[41:53] The perfect lamb. And because he is perfect. Because he is the great saviour of his people.
[42:05] His people benefit. We see that. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely. Again, the people of God.
[42:16] Because he is Jehovah's Akeny. Because he is a righteous king. His people will dwell secure. His people will prosper under him.
[42:32] Dear brothers and sisters, this is us. We can know for certain, because we worship a righteous saviour, a perfect saviour, we can rest secure. Why?
[42:42] Because we are covered by his righteousness. We're covered by his righteousness. We see that here. Explained to us in 1 Corinthians.
[42:55] We read it in 2 Corinthians. But in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, again, I'll read the verse for us. We're reminded here. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus.
[43:08] You are in Christ Jesus. Who became to us wisdom from God. Righteousness and sanctification and redemption. So that is written, let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.
[43:22] In other words, because he is perfect. Because he is king. Because he lived a perfect life. Because he is Yahweh, Jehovah said, can you?
[43:34] We can know. But in him. If we know him. If we love him. If we trust in him. We also are called perfect. I'm certainly not.
[43:45] I don't feel perfect. I've done wrong things this week. Even today perhaps. But you have been declared perfect as a Christian. If you know Jesus. If you love Jesus.
[43:55] Because of his finished work. He is the righteous Lord. Who makes his people righteous through his finished work. Jehovah said, can you?
[44:07] Gives us his righteousness. We'll see that more in a second. He is righteous.
[44:19] The righteous king. The holy perfect king. He is a righteous Messiah. But also. And secondly. The righteous Messiah. Will have a righteous people.
[44:31] Again. Here we have a second mention of Jehovah said. Can you? In Jeremiah. This time Jeremiah 33. In verse 16. In those days Judah will be saved. And Jerusalem will dwell securely.
[44:43] And this is the name. By which it will be called. The Lord is our righteousness. So before we had the name of Jesus.
[44:56] The name of the Messiah. That he is the righteous one. He is God is righteous. That's his title. But now his people are called. The Lord is our righteousness.
[45:07] Do you see what's taking place here? His name will be the name of his people. Because he is their king.
[45:19] And he goes before them. To lead them into victory. Those of us who fall on behind him. As his people. We're covered by his glory. We're covered by his finished work. And because he is perfect.
[45:31] And glorious. Because he is Jehovah. Said Kenyu. As we fall on behind him. His title. His perfection. It covers us too.
[45:43] We approach God. Not as fearful. Not as scared. Not as those wondering. Whether God cares for us at all. Not worrying whether our sin.
[45:54] Our badness. Our backsliding. Is still counted against us. If we know Jesus. If we love Jesus. If we can call him our saviour. We approach him. As ones.
[46:04] Who are covered. By him. Who have been called. The Lord is our righteousness. That is the glory. Of knowing Jesus.
[46:15] His perfection. Becomes our perfection. Not because we deserve it. We certainly don't. Quite the opposite. Because of his love for us. He covers us.
[46:26] With his glorious. Eternal perfection. Because he is righteous. His people are made righteous. How does that work?
[46:37] How can that be the case? Well that's what we read. In 2nd Corinthians. We read of the great exchange. Which takes place. On the cross. 2nd Corinthians 5. Verse 21.
[46:49] For our sake. Speaking of God the Father here. For our sake. He made him. To be sin. Who knew no sin.
[47:00] So that in him. In Jesus. We might become. The righteousness. Of God. Here we see. Jehovah said. Can you?
[47:12] He leads us forward. How? Because on the cross. He took on himself. On his perfect body. His perfect soul. His unspotted.
[47:22] Sinless person. He takes on himself. All. The wrath. Of all. The sin. Of all. His people. So much so.
[47:33] He became. Sin. On that cross. And the Father. Saw the Son. On the cross. And he sees. Sin. He sees. Evil.
[47:44] Which must be punished. And the Father. Let out. All his wrath. On the Son. On the cross. Jehovah said. Kenyu. On that cross. Was called. And numbered.
[47:55] With his brothers. And sisters. He was called. A sinner. Named a sinner. Numbered along. With the sinners. And he became. Sin. For us. In the fact. That the Father.
[48:06] Poured out. All the wrath. On to Jehovah said. Kenyu. On to Jesus. Our Savior. Now. We've heard this before. Perhaps. But. I worry. We'll lose sight. As to the.
[48:16] The horror. But also. The wonder of it. Here we see. As it were. The great exchange. As it's often called. Taking place.
[48:28] Quite simply. He is there. Perfect. We are here. Fully imperfect. And he takes on. Our imperfection.
[48:39] He dies. And suffers. The wrath of God. Because of our sin. Because of our imperfection. And he gives to us. And he covers us by.
[48:51] And in. His holiness. His perfection. We are clothed. In. His perfection. And again. Again. The New Testament. And even the Old Testament.
[49:02] Pointing forward to this. Again. Psalm 45. And. We read this song. This morning. It tells us. The image. Is so beautiful. It's a cloak.
[49:14] Being placed on us. We are there. Dirty. And we are there. Our clothes. Tattered. And Jesus. Takes these. Tattered clothes. Off us. And he wears them himself.
[49:25] And he gives us. A cloak. A covering. A royal garment. Of his perfection. That we are then clothed in. That is the love. Of Jehovah.
[49:36] Said Kenyu. For his people. Jehovah. Said Kenyu. The glorious. Eternally righteous. Son of God.
[49:47] Who took our sin. Onto himself. To become the very thing. Which is opposite to himself. Who took on.
[49:57] The very hell. The very punishment. Of our sins. And again. The maths is simple. But the maths is impossible. Every.
[50:11] Sinner. Which is every one of us. Every one of us. Who comes to Jesus. We come to Jesus as sinners. All. Our.
[50:22] Sins. And all the punishment. Of all. Just think of yourself. For example. Think of all the sin. You've committed. As best you can. All the things. You've done wrong. And the scripture tells us.
[50:34] That without Jesus. Our sin. Demands. Hell. Demands. Eternal punishment. And multiply. Your sin. By every other sin. Of every other person.
[50:45] The maths begins to break down. It's too big. For every person. Who would come. Trust in him. Our saviour. Took on.
[50:56] The full wrath. Of God. That is. The glorious truth. Of Jehovah. Sid Kenyu. Our glorious. Saviour.
[51:07] So that we might become. The righteousness. Of God. Brothers and sisters. For ourselves. This gives us assurance.
[51:19] Doesn't it? Often as Christians. We think. And we forget. The simplicity of this. We forget. We aren't doing things. Our own way anymore.
[51:30] We aren't having to. We aren't having to. Go it alone. We worship Jehovah. Sid Kenyu. Who has rescued us. Who has. Called us. His own. Who has shown us.
[51:41] Great love. Who has forgiven us. Our many sins. Who has taken himself. The full wrath. Of all the sins. We have ever. Committed. And still commit.
[51:51] It's all his. On the cross. He bore it. He faced the wrath. For it. So we can live. Free lives. As Christians.
[52:03] Free. Lives. Knowing. Again. When God. Looks on us. He sees us. In Jesus. Perfect. Beautiful. Glorious. And because that's true.
[52:14] When God sees us. He looks on us. In. Love. Dear friends. You've heard this before. A thousand times too. But I'll say it again. When we come to passages.
[52:25] Like this. When we come to reminders. Like this. A reminder. That we have. In Jesus. A glorious. Savior. Verses. A reminder. A reminder. Verses. Like we have here. That for our sake.
[52:36] He made Jesus. To be sin. Who knew no sin. So that in him. We might become. The righteousness of God. It's a reminder. That that gospel. That hope.
[52:47] Is for you. It's for you. It's not for some. Special people. Out there. Somewhere. It's for those. Who have no hope. And those.
[53:00] Who think. They have hope. It's for those. Who know. They have no. Righteousness. And those. Who think. Somehow. Without Jesus. They're righteous. You might think. Because of your.
[53:11] Godly lineage. Your people. Have come. From church circles. Your people. Have worshipped. Here or next door. For generations. Therefore. Somehow. God will let you. In at the door. Without Jesus.
[53:22] He won't. Without being covered. By his righteousness. There's no hope. For any of us. The gospel. Is simple. And it's free. And it's beautiful.
[53:33] And for all. Who come. And all. Who admit. They have no help. And no hope. Apart from Jesus. He is Jehovah.
[53:44] Said Kenyu. He is our righteousness. Who makes us righteous. Because of his great sacrifice. For us. Why. Why close. Any other way.
[53:54] That. I'm quoting. Some. Some verses. From that hymn itself. That hymn. We've all. I'm sure. Sung at some point. About Jehovah. Said Kenyu. Murray McShane's. Glorious.
[54:05] Words. Speaking of his own. Conversion. Experience. I once was a stranger. To grace. And to God. I knew not my danger. And felt not my load.
[54:17] Though friends. Spoken rapture. Of Christ. On the tree. Jehovah. Said Kenyu. Was nothing. To me. We're down then. To his. His.
[54:28] Experience. When he. Came to know Jesus. For himself. My terrors. All vanished. Before the sweet name. My guilty fears. Banished.
[54:39] With boldness. I came. To drink. At the fountain. Life giving. And free. Jehovah. Said Kenyu. Is all things. To me.
[54:50] We pray that. Would be your experience. You would come to know Jesus. Not just as king. Or as saviour. You must know him. As both these things. But also.
[55:00] As friend. As elder brother. Let's bow our heads. In that. A word of prayer. Lord we thank you. For the gift. Of your word. Once more. Thank you.
[55:11] Especially. You're of a God. Who has revealed yourself. In so many ways. In so many different titles. In titles. Especially. In the Old Testament. All these things. Pointing forward.
[55:21] To you. The fact. You're of a God. Who would. One day. Come and rescue. Your people. Sending your son. Into this world. We thank you. That he was sent. We thank you. That he came. That we have in him.
[55:32] Jehovah. Said Kenyu. We have in him. A righteous God. Who is perfect. And all powerful. But who is gracious. And close. To his people. We ask once more.
[55:44] Of a simple prayer. But one that we cannot answer. For ourselves. That you would indeed come. This evening. And bring some here. To know you for the first time. To find in Jesus.
[55:56] Their hope. To find in Jesus. Their perfect righteousness. We ask that we come to sing. Our final item of praise. We do so. Voices. Of understanding.
[56:08] Giving you praise. For the goodness. You've shown to us. All these things. In and through. And for Jesus. His precious name's sake. Amen. We can conclude.
[56:21] Sing. Sing. Sing. Sing. Psalms. And Psalm 1. Sing. Psalms. And Psalm 1. On page 1. Of our psalm books. Sing. Psalms. Psalm 1a.
[56:33] On page 1. This psalm speaks. In many ways. It's advice. On how to live our lives. It's Christians. But really. Psalm 1 speaks.
[56:43] Of the perfect man. The perfect person. And Psalm 1. Is only ever. Fully fulfilled. In the Lord Jesus. Yes. We strive. To live a life.
[56:54] Like Psalm 1. But it's only fulfilled. Truly. In the person of Jesus. Blessed is the one. Who turns away. From where the wicked walk. Who does not stand.
[57:04] In sinners paths. Or sit with those. Who mock. Instead he finds. God's holy law. His joy. And great delight. He makes the precepts. Of the Lord.
[57:14] His study. Day. And night. Let's sing these verses. To God's praise. Psalm 1. gathered by the. Bible.
[57:36] San serbis. Or sit with those in all.
[57:53] Instead he finds what's holy go, Filled joy and with his light.
[58:06] In his love, his love, the heart, Is the gift in our night.
[58:22] He prospered ever like a tree, That's the people of your king.
[58:35] Amen, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, his fondly spirit And all will sin.
[58:52] Not so the wicked, there are, The child has grown now with They will not stand when judgment comes Or with the righteous sin It is that our good saints That knows that we have righteous hope That those who live and be blind That are filled overflows
[59:54] In the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ And the love of God the Father And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit Both you now and forevermore. Amen.