[0:00] Welcome to God's house and we trust it will be God's voice that we hear, God's face that we see and above all God's blessing that we know. So let's begin our service of worship by singing to God's praise out of Psalm 96 on page 126. That is the sing Psalms portion of your book, blue book, page 126 and we sing verse 96a, a common metre tune and we sing verses marked 1 to 10. Oh sing a new song to the Lord, sing praises to his name and his salvation day by day let all the earth proclaim. I will go down to sing verse 10. Tell every land the Lord is king, established as the earth and cannot move. The Lord will judge the peoples in his truth.
[1:14] Psalm 96a verses 1 to 10 to God's praise. O sing a new song to the Lord, sing praises to his name and his salvation day by day.
[1:44] Lord, sing praises to his name and his salvation day by day. O sing a new song to the Lord, sing praises to his name and his salvation day by day.
[1:58] We call it in it to every land declare of grandchildren how great that will America save more and from one another.
[2:31] The Lord, an enormous soul, the Lord with heaven's sight.
[2:46] Of the Lord, an angel, still the heavens, he dwells in heaven's night.
[3:04] All nations, still the Lord, an astray, the glory added you.
[3:20] Glory and strength, the strength below the gracious name of you.
[3:38] And that he's cool to enjoy and bring an offering with you.
[3:54] Wash up the Lord, the Lord with heaven, water before and above.
[4:12] And every lamb, the Lord is king. Is thou a blessed place, ye ye are?
[4:28] Ancana, the Lord with heaven's sight.
[4:42] Let us bow our heads in prayer.
[4:55] Our gracious Father in heaven, we come once more into the courts of your house to worship you, the great God of all the earth.
[5:10] The God who called everything into existence simply by speaking. We thank you, gracious God, that you are mighty.
[5:24] That you are full of power. That you are full of majesty. The angels surround your throne. Crying holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts.
[5:38] We bless you, eternal God, not just for who you are. But we bless you for what you have done.
[5:49] What you have done for perishing sinners that have brought the curse into the universe. We made in your image, marred the image of God upon ourselves and brought the curse.
[6:09] Oh, gracious Father, we thank you that you did not instantly cast the whole human race to a lost eternity.
[6:20] The moment they sinned. But oh, we thank you that what we find written in your word is that you so loved the world.
[6:31] You gave your only begotten Son. So that whoever would believe upon him would not perish but have everlasting life.
[6:42] We thank you, eternal God, for your Son, for sending him for us. Not against us, but for us.
[6:57] Oh, we thank you, gracious God, for the glorious gospel. That whoever, whenever, wherever, a human being confesses his sins, repents, and believes that his death at the place called Calvary was on behalf of believing sinners.
[7:26] Oh, Lord, number us among such, we pray thee. Number us among such. If there's any, if there's any not in your kingdom tonight, bring them in.
[7:43] Bring them close to Jesus. Unite them to your Son in a living faith. Make him all their salvation and all their desire.
[7:55] But reveal him to them, we pray thee. May your word be with power, unction, anointing. Oh, Lord, for your name's sake, we pray thee.
[8:10] Gracious God, we pray that you come and visit us. For we need you. Without you, we perish. We pray, heavenly Father, that you would graciously remember those who are in need of special prayer.
[8:29] We pray for the bereaved. Those who have been visited by the angel of death. Oh, Lord, bless. Bless death.
[8:39] Many a time you've brought life out of death. Because you are the God who can bring good out of evil. Lord, you can do that.
[8:52] The most horrific sin ever perpetrated on earth was the crucifixion of your Son. And many a soul has been born again as a result.
[9:06] May every one of us here tonight be among these blessed souls. We pray, Lord, that you comfort all that mourn.
[9:19] We pray that you would graciously meet with them. Console and comfort as only you can do. We pray, gracious God, that you would remember those who are serious ill.
[9:33] That you would bless medication and treatment where it is available. And where it is not available. May it please you to heal apart from any human means.
[9:46] If this be to your glory and for their good. Heavenly Father, we pray that you would bless all who are tempted.
[9:56] Tried, tried, worried, nervous, lonely. We pray for those under addiction. We pray for those, Lord, who have problems.
[10:11] And they can't solve them. When they don't know where to look. We pray, may it please you that they may look up. And may they look to your Son. May they find Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners.
[10:26] Now, gracious God, we ask you that you would be pleased to be with our young people growing up in an age of license.
[10:38] Where authorities spend tax mares money on leading them astray. Trifling with sin. O Lord, be pleased for your own namesake to meet with such.
[10:54] Gracious God, we ask that you would be with all such. We pray thee. We pray for the nations of the world that know war and strife. O Lord, and tragedy and calamity.
[11:08] Lord, we pray for the situation in Gaza. O Lord, will you meet? Will you meet?
[11:19] Will the Prince of Peace not go there? Gracious God, for your own namesake, we pray thee. For your own namesake, grant it.
[11:30] Holy God. Heavenly Father, we do pray that you would return to these islands in reviving power.
[11:45] Lord, we just pray for it. We cannot make it happen. But we pray for it. And we pray, Lord, that you would be pleased to be with your people.
[11:57] We pray for our leaders. Lord, bring them back, we pray thee, to your word. Lord, grant your blessing, we pray thee.
[12:09] We ask, O Lord, that you would graciously lead and guide them. We confess national sins, that we have sinned against you.
[12:20] By removing every remembrance of your word from our statute book. And we pray, therefore, O gracious God, that you'd raise up and put in church and state those who lead us back to your word and your ways.
[12:36] We pray now, Heavenly Father, that you'd be with us. That you'd keep us all in your love and in your fear. That you might remember anything we've forgotten to pray for.
[12:47] And we pray all with the forgiveness of each and every sin. In Christ's name and for Christ's sake alone. Amen.
[12:59] Now let's sing again to God's praise. This time from Psalm 98. In the Sing Psalms portion of your blue book. Psalm 98.
[13:10] We sing verses 1 to 3. Oh, sing a new song to the Lord. For wonders he has done. His right hand and his holy arm.
[13:21] Him victory hath won. And we sing down to the end of verse 3. And all the nations of the earth have seen what God has done. Our God who brings deliverance by his right hand alone.
[13:35] Psalm 98 verses 1 to 3. Sing. O sing a new song to the Lord.
[13:52] For wonders in his land. His right hand and his holy arm. His right hand and his holy arm.
[14:06] The Lord, he gave his holy word. The Lord, he gave his holy word.
[14:24] I'm willing to be on. To all the nations of the world.
[14:41] His right hand and his holy word. Sing. The Lord, he gave his holy word.
[14:53] But he gave his holy word. Parce qu'Has ис-Pensh'uelp's mii-qn.
[15:06] But з' terror not if my leader will Origami reconno B с EL- goodn Eine soldieránd ku� reno! My Christian times, unrund Y as Jesiy.
[15:20] And on the days of the earth have saved what God has done.
[15:38] Our Lord who brings you to the world, my Lord shall come by all.
[15:55] Now let's turn in our Bibles to the New Testament, to the letter of Paul, to the Philippians chapter 3.
[16:11] Philippians chapter 3. Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord.
[16:33] To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. Look out for the dogs.
[16:46] Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.
[17:08] Though I myself have reasoned for confidence in the flesh also, if anyone else thinks he has reasoned for confidence in the flesh, I have more.
[17:20] For we are circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel. Of the tribe of Benjamin. A Hebrew of Hebrews. As to the law, a Pharisee.
[17:32] As to zeal, a persecutor of the church. As to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
[17:52] Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
[18:06] For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish. In order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ.
[18:31] The righteousness from God that depends on faith. That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.
[18:49] That, by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this, or am already perfect.
[19:03] But I press on to make it my own. Because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.
[19:19] But one thing I do. Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
[19:39] Let those of us who are mature think this way. And if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.
[19:50] Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me.
[20:02] And keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.
[20:20] Their end is destruction. Their God is their belly. And they glory in their shame. Who minds, with minds set on earthly things.
[20:36] But our citizenship is in heaven. And from it, we await a saviour. The Lord Jesus Christ.
[20:47] Who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body. By the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
[21:04] May God bless the very reading of his own truth to us. Now let's sing once more to God's praise.
[21:15] This time from the Scottish Psalter. Page 344. Page 344. The blue book. Psalm 89.
[21:27] And we sing verses marked 1 to 4. Psalm 89. God's mercies I will ever sing.
[21:38] And with my mouth I shall thy faithfulness make to be known to generations all. Down to verse 4. That I thy seed established shall forever to remain.
[21:52] And will to generations all thy throne build and maintain. Psalm 89. Psalm 89. Verses 1 to 4. Those pleasures I will ever see.
[22:16] And with my mouth I shall. Like his woman's day to be known to generations all.
[22:38] Of mercy shall we shall be known, said I. For ever and true and true.
[22:54] Life with woman's day in her hands. The world is found is true.
[23:11] I put my chosen one of it, How come, how it shall see, How to myself, how to my love, To live in so proud.
[23:44] Love, how we might see, In salvation forever to remain, One of the generations of thy throne Will have been here.
[24:19] Let's turn in our Bibles to the passage, The chapter of God's word which we read.
[24:33] The letter, Paul's letter to the Philippians, Chapter 3. And as God would help me, I'd like to concentrate on verse 8. But we'll read verses 7 to 11.
[24:48] Philippians 3, verse 7. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
[25:02] Indeed, I count everything as loss Because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
[25:14] For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things, And count them as rubbish, In order that I may gain Christ, And be found in him, And be found in him, Not having a righteousness of my own, That comes from the law, But that which comes through faith in Christ.
[25:42] The righteousness from God that depends on faith. That I may know him, And the power of his resurrection, And may share his sufferings, Becoming like him in his death.
[26:00] That by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Verse 8.
[26:14] Indeed, I count everything as loss, Because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
[26:30] For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things, And count them as rubbish, In order that I may gain Christ.
[26:43] What does Paul mean by gaining Christ?
[26:55] What was Paul prepared to give up in order to gain Christ? Now listen, Paul was no moron.
[27:10] Paul, the apostle, was no rookie. He was an extremely well educated person.
[27:21] He was highly, very highly intelligent. He had plenty life experiences.
[27:32] They tell me, I have read more than once, That by the time he was 21, By the time he was 21, He had the equivalent of two PhDs.
[27:48] He had a spotless religious heritage. There was not one drop of Gentile blood, In either of his parents.
[28:02] He was, you would say, the perfect Jew. A spotless religious heritage. He had a potential future, Second to none.
[28:14] But in comparison, To gaining Christ, All these things, He counted rubbish.
[28:28] So, what does he mean by gaining Christ?
[28:41] Gaining Christ is more than simply believing about Christ. Very few intelligent, educated people do not believe about Christ.
[28:56] There is so much evidence that he lived and made his claims. Very few intelligent people do not believe about Christ.
[29:08] But believing in Christ. Believing on Christ is different altogether.
[29:19] It's a relationship with Christ. It's a relationship of trust in Christ.
[29:31] Dependence upon Christ. Dependence upon Christ. For salvation. Paul had convictions about Christ.
[29:43] And before his conversion, And the Damascus Road, He was sure, Christ was an apostate. A heretic.
[29:54] But as most of you will know, He met Christ on the Damascus Road. And instantly, He knew, He was who He said He was.
[30:07] Who He claimed to be. He claimed to be God. Now listen, Very few people in history have claimed to be God.
[30:22] Plenty have claimed to be His prophet. Plenty have claimed to be His servant. But very few intelligent people claim to be God. There is a tremendous pressure on you if you claim to be God.
[30:37] The moment Paul met Christ, He knew instantly, He was God.
[30:49] He was the Messiah. Sent by God the Father. And not only had he conviction that He was God.
[31:01] And that He was the Messiah. And that He was the only Savior in the world. He trusted Him. He put His faith in Him.
[31:12] He had confidence in everything He said. Everything He did. And especially confidence that His death on that center cross at Calvary that Friday afternoon.
[31:28] He was convinced. Everyone who believed in that would have their sins instantly forgiven. And it transformed Paul's life.
[31:45] Despite what it cost him. And it cost him plenty in this life. Just read 2 Corinthians 11, I think, or is it 12. What it cost Paul.
[31:58] Five times scourged. Do you notice how the Bible defines scourging, by the way? Scourging was supposed to be smitten 39 times.
[32:14] But do you notice the way the Bible says it? The Bible doesn't say 39 stripes. It says 40 minus 1.
[32:26] Isn't that interesting? Do you know why? They tell me that at the 40th lash, you could lose your life.
[32:37] And when you were scourged, you weren't meant to lose your life. You were to be in extreme pain, but not lose your life.
[32:49] At the 40th lash, you could lose your life. But, Paul tells us five times he was scourged. Out of loyalty to Christ.
[33:06] And he calls all these tremendous blessings that he had, compared to gaining Christ, that were just rubbish.
[33:20] So what does it mean to gain Christ? Well, as we read in our verses, number one that we'll mention is not that there's obviously a guarantee of heaven.
[33:35] Verse 20 says, we're citizens of heaven. But it's much more than that. It's knowing Christ. Verse 8 and verse 10. The surpassing worth of knowing Christ.
[33:50] You know, there's no verse in the Bible that says we're predestined to salvation. There's no verse in the Bible that says that. Do you know what the Bible says about predestination?
[34:04] We're predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. That's the way to get to heaven. That's the way to be saved.
[34:17] But tell me, how can anyone be conformed to the image of Christ, unless they know Christ? And that's what Paul's saying here.
[34:29] That I may know Him. How can we know Christ? If you've, maybe you've discovered, hey, this Christianity, it's all about knowing Christ.
[34:45] How can I get to know Christ? If you want to shape your life on Jesus, you have to know about Him. How would you get to know Him? Do you pray for a dream of what He'll be like?
[34:58] How do we get to know Christ? Know the Bible. That's how you know Christ. Because Christ is revealed in the Bible.
[35:13] Jesus is the Word made flesh. You see, there's such a difference. Jesus is God. There's such a difference between God up in heaven and you and me down here on earth.
[35:30] There's such a gap. We need something in between to identify with. How can we be like God? Look at His Son.
[35:44] As Jesus Himself said, He who sees me has seen the Father. Jesus said, If you continue in my word, then you're my disciples indeed.
[36:03] What does the Bible teach? It teaches. Jesus is a human example of what the Bible teaches. If you want to be God-like.
[36:15] If you want to be God-like. If you want to be Christ-like. If you want to be holy. Look at Jesus. And imitate Jesus. In fact, I think we read it.
[36:27] Yes. 17. Join in me. In imitating me. As I imitate Christ. Now, in John chapter 5, verse 39.
[36:43] Jesus rebuked the scribes. Now, the scribes. They were the people who wrote the Bible out. They were the printers of the day. And He said to them, You search the Scriptures, because you think in them you have eternal life.
[37:00] These Scriptures that you're writing out, They bear witness about me. And yet, You will not come to me that you may have life. Terribly sad.
[37:14] They were writing about Christ. But they would not come to Him. You're not like that, are you? Are you?
[37:27] Do you want to be like Christ? You have to know Him. And you can only know Him by knowing the Scriptures. Knowing the Bible, one gains the knowledge of Christ.
[37:44] And the knowledge of Christ transforms your life down here. Do you want to be changed? Do you want to be transformed? Know Christ.
[37:57] The Apostle said, Two PhDs? Rubbish! In comparison to knowing Christ. But you know, to gain Christ is more than just knowing Christ and committing yourself to Christ.
[38:17] It's as we have in verse 9. Having the righteousness of Christ. You see, God is holy. I've never met anyone.
[38:32] It's a strange thing. You meet people who say they're atheists. Don't believe in heaven. But they all want to go. I remember a minister who went round a city.
[38:47] One of Scottish cities. And he said, You know, the summary of the message we got at the door. Going round the door with tracts. He says, We don't believe in heaven.
[38:59] But we're all going to heaven anyway. Eh? Have you ever heard such a contradiction? The Bible tells us, Nothing that defiles will enter heaven.
[39:16] How can we get to heaven? I don't think I've ever spoken to anyone whom I thought was a Christian that was not taking the Lord's Supper.
[39:30] And said to him, Look, you should consider seriously about coming to the Lord's Table and having communion and being a member of the church. You should seriously consider it. Why aren't you?
[39:42] I don't think I've ever said that to anyone. But they said, They all say the same thing. I'm not good enough. Excuse me, we all know that.
[39:54] We all know. There's no one good enough to go to heaven. But lots of us are. So the question is, How can I be righteous enough for heaven without being good enough for heaven?
[40:14] And what's the answer? By having the righteousness of Christ. And you see, that's what verse 8 is teaching us. I count everything a loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, my Lord, for this sake I've...
[40:31] Sorry, verse 9. And be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ.
[40:46] The righteousness from God that depends on faith. That is the simple gospel. I'm not good enough for heaven.
[41:01] And I can't become good enough for heaven. But God the Father has provided his Son and said, Here's my Son.
[41:19] He will give you his righteousness. And I will consider you perfect for his sake. We cannot produce our righteousness up to God's standard.
[41:33] But Christ can give us his righteousness. And God will look upon us as if we are perfect. That's the gospel.
[41:46] That's what it means to gain Christ. To have his righteousness instead of having your own. That's why Christ came.
[42:00] You see, Christ was righteous in heaven. But the righteousness which he had in heaven was, I speak reverently, non-transferable to human beings.
[42:18] So when he came down to earth, part of his work was to pay for sin. But this other part of his work was to provide a righteousness that could legitimately be transferred to human beings.
[42:36] And that's why he walked on this earth sinlessly for 30 odd years. Producing a righteousness that's transferable to human beings.
[42:49] Every human being which puts their faith in Jesus. Verse 9 is all you need going to eternity.
[43:01] That's all you need going to eternity. Verse 9. I'm going to read it again. That I may be found in him.
[43:14] Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law. But that which comes through faith in Christ. The righteousness from God that depends on faith.
[43:31] That's salvation. That's salvation. That's the only way to heaven. You will never be good enough.
[43:44] But you might be very wicked and have the righteousness of Christ. That should transform you. That should improve your behavior.
[43:57] You will never ever be perfect. Never. But if you possess Christ's righteousness. You're guaranteed glory in heaven.
[44:11] Because of his work. His work of dying on the cross. Paying for your sins. And his life of righteousness. Which he worked out for the specific purpose.
[44:23] Of transferring to human beings. Be one of these human beings. However bad you are.
[44:36] However wicked you are. Be one of these human beings. Who depend on Christ's righteousness. For taking them to heaven.
[44:49] There's only one way to get it. Not by being good enough. But by faith in Jesus. Believing in him.
[45:01] But gaining Christ. Means more than knowing him. It means more than having his righteousness.
[45:15] Listen to what he says in what verse is it? Verse 10. That I may know him. And. The power. Of his resurrection.
[45:30] Now tell me. What power is that? What is the power. Of his resurrection? It's resurrection power.
[45:43] That transforms. Our life. On earth. On earth. If we believe. Only. If you believe. In Christ.
[45:56] What kind of power is it? It is power. Over. Trouble. And suffering. On earth.
[46:08] There's no trouble. There's no suffering in heaven. But those who put their trust in Jesus. Have to live the rest of their lives down here. And that. There's trouble.
[46:20] And there's suffering. So what's this power. Over. Trouble. And suffering. Which resurrection power gives us.
[46:33] Listen carefully. It is not. Power. To avoid. Trouble. And suffering. Just look at the life of Christians.
[46:45] There is trouble. There is suffering. There is suffering. So what's the power of it? What's the power over trouble and suffering? It's power. To endure.
[46:57] Trouble. And suffering. For Christ's sake. And still love Christ. The world speaks about.
[47:08] Fair weather Christians. Christians. Who. People who. Supposedly. Become Christians. As long as the sun is shining.
[47:22] That when trouble comes. They give it all up. If you believe. On the Lord Jesus Christ. If you've confessed. Your sinnership.
[47:34] Not just the odd sin. Here and there. But your sinfulness. Confess your sinnership. Your sinfulness. To him. And depend on him.
[47:45] To forgive you. And Christ. To give you his righteousness. Then. You'll love him. And want to please him.
[47:56] And you'll endure. Trouble. And suffering. For his sake. That's the power. Of the resurrection. To still love Christ.
[48:10] To still follow Christ. Despite. What following Christ. May cost you. And it's very obvious. In our country.
[48:21] It's going to cost us. More and more. It seems. The way the nation's going. We knew little about persecution. But it seems to be.
[48:32] Gradually coming. You can lose your job. No bother these days. Just ask Kate Forbes. Well.
[48:43] The power of the resurrection. Is power. To endure. Trouble. And suffering. For Christ's sake. Do you remember.
[48:56] Hebrews. Chapter 11. The roll call of faith. We call it. You see. 37. Or 35.
[49:07] Is it. Some. Some. Some. Some. Escaped. The edge. The edge. Of the sword. You see.
[49:18] Some people think. If you're a Christian. All you've got to do. When you see trouble coming. All you've got to do is. Pray. And the problem will disappear.
[49:30] Now. Is that right? Well. Let me tell you. It can happen. And it does happen. But not always. Not always.
[49:43] The roll call of faith. In Hebrews. Chapter 11. Says. Some. By faith. Escaped. The edge. Of the sword.
[49:55] The problem is. People stop reading there. And if they would just read. Three verses further. They'd find out. By. Faith. Some.
[50:06] Were slain. By the sword. They saw trouble coming. They prayed to the Lord. That it would avoid them. But he said. No.
[50:17] I've ordained. That this is how. You're to come to glory. And they still love Christ. That's the power of the rejection. Power over suffering.
[50:29] Power over trouble. Power over trouble. Prepare to. End your trouble. For Christ's sake. God will. Now and again. Answer our prayers. And deliver us from it.
[50:40] Some. Escaped. The edge of the sword. Some were slain. Both. By faith.Oh God vagyك. Faith. Power over.
[50:51] One way. Power. Right. Power over. Resurrection power. Power over trouble. And suffering. Power over. In it's power over. Sin.
[51:03] And Satan. In it's power over. Flame. The end. In it's power over. In it's power over. And salt. In it's power over. Sin. In it's power over.
[51:14] In it. It's not the end. They're still tempted. Satan, the moment you put your faith in Christ, Satan becomes your enemy.
[51:29] And here's the terrible thing about Satan. He never, ever, ever gives up. You see, when he tempted Christ, Christ endured the temptation for those of us who believe.
[51:45] We tend to think he tempted them just three times. Wrong. Read the whole account. Forty days and forty nights, Satan tempted Christ without success.
[52:02] Eventually, after forty days and forty nights, he left them. And what does the Bible say after that? For a season.
[52:15] He's coming back. Satan's a dirty fighter. He waits until you're down. He waits until you're ill. He waits until you get a disappointment.
[52:27] He waits until something goes wrong. And then he comes in with his temptations. That's the way he fights. Listen. If Satan did not give up tempting Christ for forty days and forty nights, who on earth do you think you are that he'll not come back to tempt you again?
[52:49] But if you've got the power of the resurrection, you'll still love Christ. And you'll still be faithful. Now, Peter, he let Christ down, didn't he?
[53:06] Christ warned him, Peter, Satan has desired to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you that you'll be good enough.
[53:19] Is that what he says? I have prayed for you. What? That your faith will not fail. You know the greatest mark of a Christian?
[53:32] I've decided. It's homemade. So check out the scriptures. Check out on me. The greatest mark of a Christian is that he continually confesses his sin because he's continually sinning.
[53:51] So the greatest mark is he's continually repenting, continually confessing his sin, and continually believing he's forgiven.
[54:02] just because Jesus said it. If we confess our sins, who is the we?
[54:17] Epistle of John, chapter 1, verse 8, 9, 7, 8, 9, 9, I guess. If we, the epistle of John, was written to Christians, chapter 5, verse 13, these things I've written unto you who believe.
[54:39] It's written to Christians. If we who believe confess our sins. You see, believers still conceal sin, but it upsets them.
[54:50] It disturbs them. that overcomes Satan. Resurrection power is power to defeat Satan's objective to get you to despair of Christ, to get you to doubt salvation, to get you to think your sin is unforgiven.
[55:13] But if you believe in Christ and you confess and you confess your sin, your sin is forgiven. Think of Peter. The Savior said, Satan's going to sift you tonight, Peter.
[55:29] You know what Peter said. He denied it. He said, I will never deny you. But you know he did. The Savior warned him.
[55:45] Peter still sinned. Peter didn't deny Christ once. He didn't deny him twice.
[55:56] He denied him three times. And he denied him with an oath. But Peter repented. Peter confessed his sin.
[56:10] And he was forgiven. And the Savior assured him three times. I haven't cast you off. Feed my sheep.
[56:22] Feed my lambs. Feed my sheep. Christ doesn't throw away his disciples. He doesn't cast them off. But Satan would love you to think he does.
[56:36] Resurrection power is power over sin and over Satan. Satan's strong tool is your sins unforgiven.
[56:49] He's got you if your sins are unforgiven. But if you believe in Christ your sin is not unforgiven. If you confess your sins God is faithful and just to forgive your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
[57:12] Resurrection power is not a trouble free life. Resurrection power is not a sin less life. But it's a life of confessing of sin and a life of believing we're forgiven because the Bible says so.
[57:34] There's something else that Paul sees is in gaining Christ. That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings.
[57:52] What does that mean? Why would Paul want to share Christ's sufferings? Paul was very astute.
[58:08] Very, very clever. Paul sees what most of us miss. Paul saw that God had joined together suffering and glory.
[58:26] God's joined them together. Always remember a minister dying and he was in great pain and his sister was disturbed.
[58:38] She said, such a good man, such a faithful preacher, why so much suffering? And I'll never forget the answer because there's so much glory awaiting.
[58:55] God, and I don't know why, but God has joined together suffering down here with glory up there.
[59:11] Just read, well, I'll read it for you. 1 Peter chapter 4 verses 13 and 14.
[59:25] But rejoice, writing to Christians, rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
[59:44] Suffering down here, glory being revealed. If you're insulted for the name of Christ, you're blessed.
[59:55] You're blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. Now, all the suffering in this world is not worthy to be compared to five minutes in heaven.
[60:21] You'll not be five minutes in heaven and you'll say, what on earth were we worried about? Listen, if you're in verse nine, if you're found in him, not having your own righteousness that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, if you have that, do you know this?
[60:55] You don't have a worry in the world. I'm not saying you'll have an easy life, but you don't have a worry in the world.
[61:06] The future is glorious. The future is wonderful. Christ has purchased it for you. You can, let me just read Jesus said to his disciples, you are those who have continued with me in my trials, and I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as my Father bestowed upon me that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
[61:58] I said resurrection power is not power to avoid trouble and suffering, but to endure it. And if you endure it, listen to 2 Timothy 2.12.
[62:14] If we endure, if we endure, we shall also reign with them. what a privilege Christians have.
[62:29] And we don't think half enough about heaven. We don't think half enough. It would inspire us. It would help us get through the problems of life, and there are plenty of these.
[62:43] We need to have a vision of glory, and it will transform the way we handle issues and problems.
[62:55] We really ought to think much more of it. What a blessed heritage Christians have. What a blessed people we are. Now, what if you're here tonight, and you're not a Christian, you're not a believer, what do we say to you?
[63:19] Every blessing, every one of these blessings that we spoke about, which belong to believers, is offered to you tonight in the gospel.
[63:39] Every blessing the Christian have is offered to you. but you must believe there's no other way.
[63:50] It's by faith, and no one, no one, no one perishes who trusts in him.
[64:06] May God, the Holy Spirit, make his word effectual, to every single one of us. Let's bow our heads in prayer.
[64:21] Our gracious Father in heaven, be pleased to take the things of Christ and make them ours here tonight.
[64:35] Graciously keep us in your love, keep us in your fear, wash all our sins away in that fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and because sinners plunged beneath that blood, lose all their guilty stains.
[64:58] Hear us in mercy, answer us in peace, as we pray only in Christ's name, and for Christ's sake. Amen.
[65:10] Well, we conclude our service of worship by singing once more from Psalm 89 in the Scottish Psalter. Psalm 89, we sing verses Mark 13 to 16, page 345 in this blue praise book, page 345, Psalm 89, verse 15, oh sorry, verse 13, thou hast an arm that's full of power, thy hand is great in might, and thy right hand exceedingly exalted is in height.
[65:48] Down to verse 16, they in thy name shall all the day rejoice exceedingly, and in thy righteousness shall they exalted be on high.
[66:03] Psalm 89, verses 13 to 16. Amen. Oierz o'rお cross' o'r o'r laths d halt o'r o'r o'r o'r l gland o'r o'r o'r o'r o'r o'r O'r o'r o'ret sawthenoowallouhyeahoh
[67:08] I am you, you, you, I won't be born on this.
[67:23] O great, blessed, the King of God, the joyful sound of love.
[67:41] In the glorious hope, the King of God, the holy of the Lord, the holy of the Lord.
[68:00] The young man in shalom ade, rejoice at the end of the day.
[68:18] And the light of our justice, the Lord, exulting near on high.
[68:37] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all, now and forevermore.
[68:52] Amen.