[0:00] Right, before we begin the actual service this morning, if it be possible for us to stand for a minute's silence as is done in so many places. So if we could just stand just now.
[0:30] Thank you.
[1:00] Right, thanks. We can just take our seats again. We're now going to begin our worship of God, singing to us praise from Psalm number 8 in Sing Psalms.
[1:11] Psalm number 8 in Sing Psalms. In all the earth, O Lord, our God, how glorious is your name!
[1:34] For you have set above the heavens your glory and your fame. From infants and from children's lips you ordered praise to sound, to silence all your enemies, the wicked to confound.
[1:47] When I regard the heavens you made, your fingers work I trace. I see the moon and shining stars which you have set in place. I ask myself, what then is man that you should give him thought?
[2:02] The son of man that you to him such gracious care have brought. You made him little less than those who dwell in heaven above. And you have crowned and honored him with glory and with love.
[2:16] You gave him charge of all the works created by your hand. And everything that you have made, you gave him to command. These six verses are Psalm 8 in all the earth, O Lord, our Lord.
[2:31] You gave him shout, O Lord, our God, how glorious is your name!
[2:50] For you have said upon the hands, you glory and you gain.
[3:06] Draw me from sand, from children's lips, you are ordered praise to serve.
[3:22] To silence all your enemies, the wicked to confound.
[3:40] When I regard the hands you lift, your fingers work, I twist.
[3:56] I see the moon, a shining star which will upset in place.
[4:14] I ask myself, what is mine that you should give?
[4:29] The sun of man, you are such gracious care abroad.
[4:48] You may be gentle, less than those who dwell in heaven above.
[5:05] And you have crowned and honored him with glory and his love.
[5:23] You give him charge of all the world created by your power.
[5:40] And I let him be in that you have near you.
[5:51] You give him to come. Now I want to ask the young folk to come down and I hope I can work this thing.
[6:10] I will just hold this.
[6:38] I know it's a lapel thing. I'm just going to hold it.
[6:51] I'm sure all of us... I told you I wasn't very technical.
[7:03] I'm sure all of you are going to hold it. I'm sure all of you like going down to the beach, down to the shore.
[7:19] It's something we love to do. And on a day like this, it's special to go down, but it's also really good going down on a wild day.
[7:33] It's not great being out on a boat on a wild day when there's huge waves. But it's lovely sometimes when you're safe watching the waves crashing and bashing on the rock.
[7:46] Waves are so powerful. And the Bible tells us that people who love the Lord, people who follow Jesus, that their righteousness...
[7:59] Righteousness, righteousness is a big word which tells us about who Jesus is and what he does for us. His rightness is for us like the waves of the sea.
[8:10] So I wonder what that means. Well, I want to think of three things that we can think about. First of all, when you look out and you see all the waves and you see the sea, you know and I know that underneath, way down in the depths of the ocean, there's another world.
[8:33] Of mountains that we can't see shipwrecked boats that have sunk and they're way, way down. Millions of fish.
[8:45] There's so many things and we can't see them. Now, when God looks on us, if we trust in Jesus, he looks at us through Jesus' perfect righteousness.
[8:59] And when he looks at us like that, it's like all our sins are buried down in the sea that they can't be seen. God tells us that he puts our sins into the depths of the sea, not to be seen again.
[9:16] That's wonderful. The second thing is when the waves are the shore. When you go down and it's a nice day, I'm sure all of you at some times when you go down, you don't just walk in the sand.
[9:30] You draw in the sand. You dig in the sand. You dig, you make a sand castle. You make a moat round it. You draw a funny picture.
[9:41] Not of yourself, but of somebody else. You write maybe your name. And it's all there until the waves start to come back in.
[9:52] And if you're still there, you'll see the way the first wave will come in. And when it reaches what you've built and what you've written, what happens? The waves wash it all away and the sand is as smooth as ever it was.
[10:08] You wouldn't know that anything had ever been there. And that's what Jesus does with our sins when we trust him. He wipes them all away just like the waves do in the sea.
[10:23] If you were out in a boat and you had got a big wooden box and you threw it overboard, do you know what would happen eventually to that box?
[10:34] The waves would bring it little by little by little till it would come to shore somewhere. And that's what God's righteousness does as well.
[10:46] He carries us like the waves until eventually we come to the shores of heaven. So you remember next time you look at the sea and you look at the waves to remember that the waves are like what Jesus does for us if we trust in him.
[11:07] So you make sure that you trust your life to Jesus and then all your sins are wiped away, all your sins are covered in the sea and Jesus will carry you home with himself.
[11:22] So you're now going to make your way to Sunday school. I want to have a prayer. Do I go up for the... Do I? Right, we'll just say a word of prayer.
[11:35] Lord our God, we pray to bless us today and we give thanks for this day, for your day, a day where we're able to come to worship you and to remember that you are the King of glory.
[11:48] We give thanks, O Lord, that in a day when we remember the great cost that so many people gave in giving their lives for the freedom that we have, help us to remember above all the great sacrifice of Jesus.
[12:05] He is the one who made the greatest sacrifice of all. And we pray, Lord, that you will help us to worship you. We pray your blessing on the young people here and we give thanks for them, precious lives.
[12:18] And we pray that they will grow up to know you and to love you and to serve you. We pray for those who teach them in Sunday school. And we pray that you will bless them and encourage them every single day.
[12:31] What a wonderful thing it is to be taught of the Lord. Lord, we pray that we will have teachable spirits, that we will hear what God the Lord will speak. We pray to bless this congregation and we pray that your blessing will be upon Donald and his wife as they minister here.
[12:49] We pray for the office bearers. We pray for all who are involved in the work of the congregation. Because as a congregation develops and goes on, so many willing hands and willing hearts are involved.
[13:03] And we give thanks, Lord, for everyone who involves themselves in whatever way. Those who give. Those who help. We ask, Lord, that you'll bless them. Bless this community, we pray.
[13:15] We pray that you will open the windows of heaven and touch many hearts. So that many souls will come to love you and to believe in you and to trust in you. We pray that you will be with us every day.
[13:28] We need your help. We don't know the right way to go. Help us to put our hand in your hand. To be led by you is the greatest thing. We're told in the Bible, trust in the Lord with all your heart.
[13:42] And lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. So, Lord, may we indeed do that every single day.
[13:53] We pray for the desire to follow you. We pray for anybody in here today who still doesn't know you as Lord and Savior. Help them, Lord, to come to bow before you.
[14:05] Give them the desire to submit, to give their lives to you. For there is no life, ultimately, apart from life in yourself.
[14:16] And so we pray that you'll help us today and grant us your grace, grant us your blessing. Watch over us in all that we do. We pray for those who are sad and lonely and anxious and afraid.
[14:29] Those who are troubled and scared. Those who are facing illness and difficulties. Pray, Lord, your healing hand upon those who are ill. Pray for those who mourn whose hearts are sore and heavy because they've lost.
[14:42] Those who are near and dear to them. Bless them, we pray. And so we ask that you'll watch over us and keep us in the way. And guide us and uphold us and take away our sin.
[14:53] We pray all in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for being so listening. Thank you for being so listening. We're going to sing again now from Psalm 40.
[15:15] And this is in the Scottish Psalter. Psalm 40.
[15:26] Psalm 40. And the Scottish Psalter. And we're going to sing verses 6 to 10.
[15:39] No sacrifice nor offering didst thou at all desire. Mine ears thou boards in offering, thou and burnt didst not require. Sing to the Lord.
[15:50] These were my words. These were my words. I come, behold and see. Within the volume of the book it written is of me. To do thy will I take delight. O thou my God that art.
[16:02] Yea, that most holy law of thine I have within my heart. Within the congregation great I righteousness did preach. Lo, thou dost know, O Lord, that I refrained not my speech.
[16:17] I will sing to the end of verse 10. Psalm 40, 6 to 10. No sacrifice nor offering didst thou at all desire. My dear Lord, through my light come beyond didst thou.
[16:32] Sacrifice not of every, it's that of your son.
[16:46] I hear the Lord, sin of freedom, I learn it's not required.
[17:03] Thank you, the Lord, these will my word.
[17:13] I come before the sea, with the water, the water, the water, the water.
[17:30] I hear the bitterness of me. To give thy will, thy take me light.
[17:47] O thou, my God, thou art. Yea, that most holy love I have within my heart.
[18:13] Within the congregate, I righteousness be free.
[18:31] Lo, thou art as hope, O Lord, that I refrain.
[18:44] In all of my speed, I never did.
[18:55] Within my heart, conceal thy righteousness.
[19:07] Thy light shall wish, O God, be clear.
[19:18] patreon.com. toddler may haveน أن jet opًا vård on me.
[19:28] And Iciones & preacherunazię кнопọca. It's golden heavens. Come see in the congregations bow from the congregation we game� .
[20:01] . Amen. Let's turn to read God's word now in the Gospel of John.
[20:14] Gospel of John, chapter 10. John's Gospel, chapter 10. Amen. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
[20:53] When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.
[21:10] This figure of speech Jesus used with them, for they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, He says,
[22:16] I know my own, and my own know me. Just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold.
[22:31] I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
[22:46] No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.
[22:58] This charge I have received from my Father. There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, He has a demon and is insane.
[23:10] Why listen to him? Others said, These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? At that time, the feast of dedication took place at Jerusalem.
[23:25] It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, How long will you keep us in suspense?
[23:38] If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me.
[23:52] But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
[24:10] My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one.
[24:22] Amen. And may God bless to us his reading of his own holy word. We're going to sing again, this time in Psalm 45. This is in Sing Psalms, Psalm 45a.
[24:33] I'm going to sing verses 1 to 6. Psalm 45a, it's on page 56.
[24:46] A noble theme inspires my heart with verses for the King. My tongue's a skillful, writish pen, composing lines to sing. You far excel the best of men, your lips are full of grace.
[25:01] For God has blessed you evermore, his light shines on your face. O mighty one, take up your sword and bind it on your thigh. With glorious splendor, clothe yourself and with your majesty.
[25:15] Ride forth in state victoriously. For meekness, truth and right. Let your right hand display your deeds of awesome power and might. Let your sharp arrows push the hearts of those who hate the King.
[25:30] And all the nations of the earth into subjection bring. Your royal throne, O God, will last throughout eternity. Your kingdom's scepter will be one of truth and equity.
[25:44] These verses are Psalm 45a, 1 to 6, from Sing Psalms. A noble theme inspires my heart. A noble theme inspires my heart.
[26:03] New will, riches are the King. My heart being nice, and glorification. Myprae is in parfois the King.
[26:22] A noble theme inspires my heart. A noble theme inspires my heart. Mel for grace is not a 예� compared to affect Him. Who the high belief does my heart.
[26:33] Your health is not worth it. The gold of grace Our God has blessed To heaven o'er His light shines on your lips O mighty one Take up your sword And bind it on your thigh With glorious splendor Clothe yourself And with your majesty gotta' look now The very grace of God All poetic ministryài est assistance
[27:35] Griffin geht cow .
[27:48] . .
[28:02] The world's first and heart of those who live in the near, and all the kings of the earth, in use of change on being.
[28:29] You're a god of love, you're a god of love, you're a god of love, until an end will be.
[29:00] Amen.
[29:30] And Jesus says there,
[32:31] He was an incredibly illustrative teacher. He was always teaching by way of illustration of using everyday things to teach things to us. And of course, when he describes himself, it's one of the great I am statements.
[32:45] I am the good shepherd. And he's a good shepherd like no other shepherd is. Because he is a shepherd who has never lost a sheep. There's no shepherd anywhere that can say that.
[32:58] No crofter can ever say, you know, I've never lost a sheep. He's never failed to find a sheep that has strayed. In fact, we have that beautiful picture given to us by himself, where he talks about the shepherd having a hundred sheep, and there's the ninety-nine ones missing.
[33:14] What does he do? He goes off into the wilderness. He goes searching until he finds the one sheep that is missing and brings it back. And today, if you're missing, if you're outside the fold, today you're in the best place possible.
[33:32] And the reason we say that is because the good shepherd is here today. We've always got to remember that. But Jesus says that wherever his people meet together, he's there.
[33:44] He's there in the midst. And that's one of the wonderful reasons, one of the great blessings when we come to church, that we know that Jesus is here through the Spirit.
[33:56] And if you are still outside that fold, ask the shepherd who's here, ask him just now to take hold of you. Take you by the hand and take you into that fold.
[34:09] Because he talks about that very thing where he says in verse 16, And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. Is he speaking to you today with that?
[34:23] And they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock and one shepherd. Now, as we see of Jesus and as we read through his life, we see the wonderful commitment he has to wooing and to winning.
[34:41] You know, sometimes we write people off in our own minds, which we shouldn't do. But sometimes we do and we say to ourselves, Oh, well, there's no point speaking to him or speaking to her. Because they don't seem to be in the slightest bit interested.
[34:55] They don't seem to have any care or concern in any shape or form for the gospel. Well, we don't know. Just when we read through the Bible, we see the number of people that we would have written of.
[35:09] But yet the Lord has different purposes and different intentions. Now, when Jesus here speaks of other sheep, he says, speaking about, I have other sheep that are not of this fold.
[35:24] I must bring them also. And they will listen to my voice. There will be one flock, one shepherd. And in the immediate context of that, Jesus is speaking about what is going to happen.
[35:38] Because right at that particular point, we've got to remember that Jesus had very few followers. These were dark days. When Jesus came into this world, they were dark days.
[35:50] There was plenty of religion, but it was all pharisaic. It was terribly legalistic. But there was very little true commitment to the Lord.
[36:01] Heart commitment. And while vast crowds followed Jesus, we've got to remember that vast crowds also deserted Jesus.
[36:14] Remember the point where there were huge crowds following Jesus, and they wanted to make him king? And when he began to teach them about what commitment to him was about, vast crowds left him to the point where Jesus turns to the disciples.
[36:30] And he said, will you also go away? And of course, we have Peter's great statement. To whom else can we go? For you have the words of eternal life.
[36:41] I hope you're able to say that today. That that is where you are today. To whom else can we go? Because you have the words of eternal life. But as Jesus is talking about the other sheep that he's to get, it would seem at that time almost an impossibility.
[37:02] Because while crowds followed him, crowds deserted him, and the crowds cried, crucify him. But Jesus knew that just in a short time after his death, that some of those that day, some of those who would have cried, crucify him, some of those who had deserted him and turned their back, some of those who had mocked and derided him, would one day soon embrace him.
[37:33] Because you remember at Pentecost, when Peter preached, thousands were converted. Thousands came to faith. So in the immediate, that's what Jesus is talking about.
[37:47] But he's talking also about all that will happen in the whole scene of time. And even when things look sort of dark, Jesus is still at work.
[38:02] And as I say, we don't know how things are. Remember when Paul went to Corinth. And if there was ever an unlikely candidate to be a Christian, it's the Apostle Paul.
[38:14] He was a man who was full of religion, but hated Jesus Christ. But you remember how he was arrested by the Lord on the way to Damascus to cause havoc amongst the church.
[38:25] And Paul became that great, shining ambassador for Jesus Christ. And he went, led by the Lord to Corinth. And at that time, Corinth was one of the worst cities in the world.
[38:38] You could do anything you wanted in Corinth. It was a place where it was a free for all. It was a dark place, a place of every vice and every sin known to man.
[38:51] And Paul no doubt looked at that city and he thought, where do I start? What's the point? And yet the Lord said to him, Paul, I have many souls yet in this city.
[39:06] So Paul had to go and preach. And through his preaching, many people were going to come to faith. And that's the great hope that we have in the gospel. Because Jesus is a good shepherd.
[39:18] And he's going out with the gospel all the time. And he's winning and he's going. And people will hear his voice. People will hear his voice today.
[39:29] There are souls that had never heard the voice. Yes, they heard the invitation. But it had never become personal into their own heart and life.
[39:40] They'll hear that today. In our own land and throughout all the lands of this world. And Jesus will continue to call into all the areas, all the places.
[39:54] There are people today and they will have no thought of the gospel. And yet, wherever they are, the Lord will touch them. And he'll convict them and convince them that they are on a road to ruin.
[40:07] That there's only one way. So from the palace to the prison, from all the pursuits of sinful pleasure, the Lord is touching people's lives. And bringing them back to himself.
[40:21] So I hope today that you hear the master's voice. And so Jesus is a good shepherd because he leads his own sheep. That's what we see in verse 4.
[40:32] When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. You know, when you become a Christian, one of the things that happens right away is you're given an understanding and a knowledge and an awareness of what is of the Lord and what is not.
[40:55] What is right and what is wrong. It's part of what happens when the Holy Spirit comes within. And you know his voice instinctively. You hear his call.
[41:07] You follow him. You want to be where he is. And there's no better way to go through life than to go with somebody who knows the way. If you were going to go to the Alps and climb there, I'm sure if you're somebody who hasn't been used maybe to, well, I doubt you'd go to the Alps if you hadn't done some climbing.
[41:30] But supposing you would say to yourself, because when you go there, you can get a mountain guide. Men and women who spend their lives in the Alps.
[41:42] Obviously, you'd have to pay to get them as a guide. But they know every crag and every rock. They know the way, like the back of their hand.
[41:55] And if you have a mountain guide to lead you, you will have a confidence. You'll have an element of trust in that person, knowing that he or she knows the way, even if I don't. You know, that's the beauty of having Jesus, because he knows the way.
[42:11] He's gone before us all. That's a great thing as a good shepherd. And he understands everything about us. And he's a good shepherd because he feeds us.
[42:23] That's what we're told also, that they go in and out and find pasture. And he chooses our feeding places for us. Now, you and I know that, well, we don't know what it's like in the mind of a sheep.
[42:40] But when the sheep are out, out in the moor, out in the hill, whatever, in the summer, we know that there's going to come the time when we're going to take them back home.
[42:52] And so they are being led, as it were, from one pasture land to another. And that's what the Lord does with us as well. Now, when you go out gathering, maybe the sheep are a fair distance away.
[43:08] And I'm sure that initially the sheep are thinking, what on earth is going on? Here's this person who's shouting. There's this dog or dogs. And they're harassing. And here I am, the sheep is saying, I'm going through all this mud and into these bogs.
[43:25] And there's a cliff there, and there's all the kind of dangers along the way. But it's for the good of the sheep, because you're taking the sheep back so that they will be fed in the winter back in the croft.
[43:40] And in a sense, that's what the Lord does for us. He has our feeding places. And he takes us from one pasture land to another. And, you know, probably when the sheep, I don't know what goes on in their head, but maybe there's an element of understanding within them, saying, oh, well, I now know what that was about.
[44:00] But, you know, for the Christian, that most certainly is what we'll see. As we go through all the trials and all the temptations and all the buffetings and all the difficulties and all the things that have really tried us to the very limit, at the end of the day, when we're brought to the heavenly shore and we're brought into the place where tears are no more, the place of everlasting joy, we'll see, you know, it was worth it all.
[44:32] The shepherd, the good shepherd, knew what he was doing. Because not only has he gone to prepare a place for us, he is working in preparing us for that place.
[44:43] We're not ready. There's big work to be on. You and I are a challenge. But it's not a challenge too big for the great master craftsman who is molding and shaping and preparing us for the glory that one day we will inherit.
[45:00] So this is all part of the good shepherd's work while he's here with us, while we are here in this world. But he's also the good shepherd, we see, because not only is he prepared to die, but he does actually die.
[45:18] He's not only prepared to give his life, but he actually gives his life for the sheep. Now the laying down of his life was an agreement that he had with the father.
[45:29] That's what we read about. This was the purpose of coming into this world. It was all according to this covenant, to this agreement between father and son. And everything was based on love.
[45:43] Therefore did my father love me because I lay down my life. And this was the supreme act and it's all based on love. God's love for his son.
[45:56] God's love for his people. The son's love for the father. And the son's love for his people. Undergirding it all, underneath it all, the motivating power behind it all is love.
[46:12] And of course we know this was a supreme sacrifice. Now the father has always loved the son. There's no point that he never loved the son.
[46:24] And that love was evident at the time of the incarnation. Jesus is coming into this world. It was evident at the time of the baptism. And even though Jesus went through so many hard things, the father's love of the son never ever wavered.
[46:41] Even on the cross. Even on the cross. While every support was removed and every comfort taken away. And when Jesus endured so much that is beyond our understanding.
[46:55] Father's love never wavered. Even when Jesus cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The father's love was a constant.
[47:08] Although Jesus wasn't aware of it. The father had not stopped loving. It's been said, I remember hearing Professor MacLeod saying that it's quite possible that there was no point ever in the experience of Christ in our nature when the son was more beautiful to the father than at the high point of his suffering.
[47:34] Even although every support and comfort from the father had been removed. But he did all of this for us because he is a good shepherd.
[47:49] And this verse is also highlighting for us the voluntariness of Christ's sacrifice because he says, I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it from me but I lay it down of my own accord.
[48:05] And we've always got to take away this idea that Jesus was overcome. That somehow he was taken against his will. No, he wasn't. At no point was Jesus ever taken against his will.
[48:21] It's amazing from the very entry of Christ into this world, the forces of darkness were out to destroy him. Herod did his best at the very beginning. Remember where he had the slaughter of the infants in Bethlehem in order to try and get rid of Christ.
[48:38] There were other times during Christ's ministry when they tried to take him to get rid of him. But they couldn't. Why? Because his time had not yet come.
[48:49] The heavenly timetable. And Christ was walking step by step in accordance with that heavenly timetable. When Judas in the upper room went out to betray Jesus, Jesus knew exactly what he was going to do.
[49:07] He didn't stop Judas. No man takes it from me. I lay it down myself. Remember when the band of soldiers came led by Judas to arrest Jesus?
[49:18] Jesus gave a little display of their utter helplessness and impotence in his face. Who do you seek, he said?
[49:31] Jesus of Nazareth. Remember what he said? I. It is I. What happened? They all fell backwards to the ground. It's like a force way out with themselves propelled them onto the ground.
[49:46] I often, I would love to have seen that scene. All this band of soldiers with Judas, all of a sudden, just the moment Jesus spoke, flattened.
[50:00] They must have been, what on earth happened there? Jesus gave one little glimpse of who he really was. Not one of them could stand in his presence.
[50:12] And when they regrouped, got up, again he said, who is it you're looking for? He said, Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, it is I this time.
[50:24] He gave himself. When Peter pulled out the sword to try and defend Jesus, Jesus put that away. He said, I could call on twelve legions of angels.
[50:37] Now you think of what one angel did in Egypt? One, we read of various times in the history of Israel. Remember, an angel came one night and destroyed an army of a hundred thousand.
[50:50] One angel. Jesus says, I could call on twelve legions of angels. And Jesus is showing his willingness and the voluntariness that nobody's taking this from me.
[51:05] Yes, human, humans are doing it. They're doing it because of their evil heart, their jealousy, their envy, their bitterness, their hatred.
[51:17] But ultimately, I am giving myself up. They're not taking it. I could stop it at any moment. And so we've got to remember that this is, this is the Savior that we worship.
[51:32] It was the same before Pilate. Remember how Pilate was grilling Jesus. Jesus wasn't saying anything. And Pilate said, listen, he said, I have power to let you go. I can crucify you.
[51:42] I have power to let you go or I could crucify you. Jesus said to him, Pilate, you could have no power at all except it was given you from above.
[51:55] See, all the time Jesus is being the victim, the lamb led to the slaughter. But he is in control every step. And even on the cross, even while he was being crucified, he was praying for his tormentors, praying for those who were crucifying him.
[52:16] He was caring for his mother, the thing of the control on the cross. As he pointed to John, he said, to his mother, there's your son, and to John, your mother.
[52:28] And John took Jesus' mother home with him afterwards. On the cross, he's saving the penitent thief. You see, all the time he's in control.
[52:40] And when he came to die, now as we know, crucifixion is something where the body sinks and where it becomes virtually impossible to breathe.
[52:54] There's so many, it's one of the most horrific forms of execution possible. but a person is being strangled and gradually it becomes impossible to breathe.
[53:08] It tells us when Jesus breathed his last. He did what isn't humanly possible. He let out a loud cry, the cry of victory.
[53:21] It's a cry of accomplishment. It's finished. I've done it. that wasn't somebody who was broken and beaten. That was somebody who was still in control to the very, very last.
[53:35] And Jesus tells us that not only has he power all the way, but he has power not only in death but over death.
[53:48] Because he said, this is what he said, I have authority. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own accord. I have authority. Sometimes it's translated power and sometimes it's translated authority.
[54:02] And if you go to a dictionary, authority, you'll see that means power. So it's in a sense it's the same thing. But what Jesus is saying, I have power or I have authority to lay it down and I have power or authority to take it up again.
[54:18] It's very interesting that with regard to the resurrection of Jesus, that the resurrection is attributed to Jesus. Jesus said, talking of the temple and speaking of his own temple, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it.
[54:36] I will raise it up again, speaking of himself. But again, when we read in Romans, we read of the resurrection being attributed to the glory of the Father.
[54:46] And again in Romans, we read of the resurrection being attributed to the power of the Spirit. So we see that the triune God, Father, Son and Spirit are all involved in the resurrection of Jesus.
[54:59] Just as they were in the creation of this world, Father, Son and Spirit is involved in the creation of this world. So in the resurrection. And so this verse here shows us the wonder of what Christ has done.
[55:18] This commandment I have received from the Father. And you know, as we think today of the sacrifice that people make, and of course as we're thinking here of the supreme sacrifice that Jesus made.
[55:33] We've got to remember that this is what the whole Bible is about. Because this is at the center of God's whole revelation to us. The whole sacrificial system in the Old Testament was set out to portray what Jesus was going to do.
[55:50] Go through the Psalms and they're full of Christ. All the prophets, they're speaking about Christ. And of course the New Testament is revealing to us.
[56:03] We have the Gospels and then what follows on. The Bible is all about the cross and about Christ. Can't take the cross away. The cross is foundational and central.
[56:15] The sacrifice. The supreme sacrifice. The ultimate sacrifice. He did it for you and me. If you today are a believer remember you have to take this passionately to yourself.
[56:32] That Jesus came in your nature from glory for you. He grew up as a little boy for you.
[56:43] He obeyed his father every single day and night for you. Every step he took in this world of obedience he did for you. He went to the cross willingly for you.
[56:59] He bore the punishment of the father in all the wrath that was poured out for your sin because he had none. All for you.
[57:11] And we often need to stop and to think because far too often we forget what Jesus actually did for us. And we need to take it home to ourselves and remember that he did this for me.
[57:29] That's why we have our Lord's Supper. That's why because you know we're so prone to forget things. I've got bad memories. And that's why we have the Lord's Supper.
[57:40] Do this in remembrance of me. You know we have that. That's a sign that we often have with the war memorials and so on. Lest we forget. Be awful to forget the supreme sacrifice paid and Jesus is saying the same.
[57:54] The Lord's Supper in a sense is a memorial. Lest you forget do this in remembrance of me. And if you're here today without Jesus while the Good Shepherd is calling you and you might say to yourself you know maybe there's no more room in the fold.
[58:15] Well you know what the Gospel says to us today in the great invitation. Tell them yet there is room. Yep there's room for you and Jesus is here.
[58:28] You ask him into your heart today. Let's pray. Lord our God we give thanks that we worship a God who hears us understands us even when we don't understand ourselves.
[58:44] We give thanks oh Lord for what you've revealed to us because we would be in the dark without it. We wouldn't know. We would have no conception of what's been done.
[58:55] But Lord you have shown us and you have touched us and you've given us to see the way of life. Help us Lord to embrace it. Help us to embrace you and may we know your embrace of us.
[59:10] Keep us in the way we pray. Take us all home safely. Grant us your grace and watch over us all the days of our life. May your goodness and mercy follow us truly to that great dwelling place above.
[59:26] Take away your sin in Jesus name. Amen. We'll conclude singing in the 23rd Psalm the The Shepherd's Psalm. This is from the Scottish Psalter Psalm 23.
[59:40] Psalm 23. The Lord's my shepherd I'll not want.
[59:50] He makes me down to lie in pastures green. He leadeth me the quiet waters by. My soul he doth restore again and me to walk doth make within the paths of righteousness even for his own name's sake.
[60:06] Yet though I walk in death's dark vale yet will I fear none ill for thou art with me and thy rod and staff may comfort still. To the last verse goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow me and in God's house forevermore my dwelling place shall be.
[60:23] The whole Psalm. The Lord's my shepherd. Amen. The Lord's my shepherd my Lord.
[60:38] He lift me down to lie in pastures green.
[60:50] He leadeth me the quiet water high.
[61:01] My soul he hath restored again and me to the Lord of me.
[61:19] Within the house of righteousness in the form e.
[61:38] Ye ago I called judgment as were yet will I fear mail For thou art with me on the door, That thou be come forth to.
[62:11] My dear love, I'll hurry in. In the midst of my fall, My hand thou dost with oil alone.
[62:39] And my cup overflows. Goodness and mercy all my life Shall surely follow me.
[63:06] And in God's hand forevermore, My bread in me shall live.
[63:24] Now may the grace, mercy and peace of God, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit Rest and abide upon each one of you, Now and forevermore. Amen.