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[0:00] Well, good evening, brothers, sisters and friends. It's a joy to worship the Lord again this evening. Just three intimations. First of all, just to note and to say the session will be closed with a benediction after the end of the service.

[0:16] Second of all, to note the men's breakfast is coming Saturday at half nine. Please do come along, even for a short time. It would be good to see you. And thirdly, the fellowship after service. You're all very welcome up to the mountains.

[0:33] We can squeeze most of you in. There's always a way to fit more people in, and we'll find that way if we can. Everyone very much welcome. We're here again to carry on in public worship of God. All our praises from the Psalter this evening. First of all, then Psalm 95.

[0:49] In the Scottish Psalter, Psalm 95. Psalm 95, we can sing verses 1 down to verse 5. Psalm 95 in the Scottish Psalter, verses 1 down to verse 5.

[1:06] O come, let us sing to the Lord. Come, let us, everyone, a joyful noise make to the rock of our salvation. Let us, before his presence come, with praise and thankful voice.

[1:18] Let us sing psalms to him with grace and make a joyful noise. Psalm 95, verses 1 to 5. To God's praise. O come, let us sing to the Lord. Come, let us, everyone, a joyful noise make to the rock of our salvation.

[1:56] All our salvation.

[2:26] Let us sing to the Lord. Let us sing to the Lord. Come, let us, everyone, a joyful noise. A joyful noise.

[2:37] God, how beautiful Lord. Keep the Johnson and said, Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord. God of Tube and the Lord dreams. All our salvation. All our salvation. All our salvation.

[2:49] Dann pبeroat ball favour Yahweh.

[3:12] In the spacious laughd, temple and clear, with Superérieur armed, so falling or Grand signage, its hands, its one that we're to take.

[3:52] Let's join to give again in prayer to our Lord. Lord our God we come again before you and again we humble ourselves at this throne of grace. We come just now publicly as one voice but also understanding we come just now as many voices of your many people here this evening. Lifting up our prayer to you, knowing you not just hear our prayers but you see our hearts, you understand our minds. The spoken public prayer but also the unspoken private prayer are alike to you. It is all seen by you, it is all known to you.

[4:33] There is not one word we think or utter that is not known, fully known to your God. It gives us as your people this evening great confidence for the days and weeks perhaps we find prayer so hard. The times in our lives where all we can manage is perhaps just a few small words or just the crying of our heart, the yearnings of our soul. Lord you hear that and you know that.

[5:05] Remind us this evening of the great privilege we had today of partaking together as a church family, partaking of that feast together. That feast symbolised and shown to us in simple elements.

[5:19] We thank you for the time of fellowship we had around your table. We ask Lord to be blessed to us, bless the word to us this weekend we ask as we have been reminded from your word as to the glorious theme of our saviour king, our servant king and us his bride. Help us Lord to understand the worth that we have in Jesus, the place that we have because of Jesus and the future that we have that is found only in the finished work of Jesus. Help us Lord to have a right understanding of all these things.

[5:58] That just now as we approach you, we approach you as those who have been forgiven, those who have been saved, those who have been called out of this world into your marvellous light. Help us Lord then to live a life that reflects that. Pray just now once more for your people's conduct both publicly and privately.

[6:18] Pray for our conduct privately that what we are as it were behind closed doors would be reflective of the same attitude in the same way we are publicly. That publicly and privately we would seek to show that the risen saviour in our actions, that we are his and that he is ours. Pray that for our conduct with one another as brothers and sisters. Pray that for our conduct of our wider family members.

[6:43] Pray that for our conduct with those in the wider community here who as of yet have not come to know Jesus. Who as of yet have not come to hear the gospel. Who as of yet have not found that hope with our souls. As we are thankful for our time together this morning, we are mindful of the many individuals in North Tolstoy. Many families and many homes represented in this village who had no idea and no care and zero desire of coming near this place of worship. Lord we ask that you would work in their hearts and work in their minds and in their experience. You bring them to an end of themselves. They would come to know and come to seek after the one who gives them hope and life. Lord use us we ask then in that capacity as your witnesses, as salt, as light, as ambassadors. Every one of your people here this evening you have called us, you have set us apart. We have been called to serve you in this place, in this village, in our places of work, in our places of study. Every single facet of our lives, every single area of our lives, there to be areas of worship and areas of service. Help us then with all our effort to serve you well in all that we seek to do. At the same time with all our effort, seek to be good witnesses. As we know that as we seek to do our best, the truth is that you are working through us. You are taking our small loaves and few fish and you multiply that for your name's sake and for your glory. We ask Lord then for a mighty harvest in North Tulsa. A prayer that is too big for us to to pray really, but a prayer we trust is not too big for you to hear or to answer. Pray Lord for days of gospel refreshing and gospel blessing. Days where we see the the good news of our risen Savior known and loved and proclaimed in every single home in this village.

[8:47] until we see these days of gospel blessing. Help us to be faithful with the small things you have given us. With our small gathering here. With our small times of togetherness and fellowship.

[9:01] Help us Lord then to use that and to cultivate these things. To make good use of our time. Understanding the time is short and the day draws near. Help us then to labour hard whilst there is still time to labour. We understand the mission field not just of this world, not just our nation, not just our island.

[9:20] The mission field of North Tulsa. It is white and ready for harvest. Give us Lord then the sense to go out as willing and eager workers to bring in that harvest for your name's sake and for your glory. Pray once more Lord for ourselves as a congregation. We thank you for the privilege we had today. Pray just now for those of our number, need perhaps maybe the many of our number privately and quietly who are going through challenging times mentally, physically, spiritually, family concerns, personal concerns. You know oh Lord the full the full spectrum of worries and concerns and issues that your people here face.

[10:10] We live in a world where we see the effect of sin, not just in its working in our own lives but we see it in a world that is full of illness and disease and sadness and pain and worry, anxiety. Pray just now for those who are going through these anxious times just now, those of our own number perhaps who are dealing with things that only they and you know about and you would come alongside them and strengthen them through your word and strengthen them through your people that we would be useful servants. Help us then to be faithful servants, to be good servants, to love one another truly as brothers and sisters and to seek to build one another up. Help us Lord as we continue then this new week as we emerge from this weekend of praise and worship to be mindful that we go back out now into the mission field, back out now into our calling every one of us to be salt and light. Help us therefore to make full use of every gospel chance you give us to show and point towards a saviour. Every chance you give us to talk about him, to discuss him, every chance you give us to pray for those around us and we ask we indeed see fruit for that labour. Thank you Lord once more for our time that we can worship you this evening. Help us never to grow tired of our Sunday times of worship, of our services, our midweek service also, but help us to see these things for what they are. A great privilege that together we can come around the means of grace, ways you have promised and the ways you have told us we will find blessing. The singing of your word, the reading of your word, the study of your word, the company and fellowship of fellow brothers and sisters, the public prayer. Help us Lord then not to neglect these times of gathering but instead to greatly enjoy them. To remember that you made the sabbath for man and not man for the sabbath. That this special day is a day given for us to enjoy. To enjoy first and foremost to remember who you are, to think on who you are, to enjoy your creation, to enjoy the intellect and the ability you have given us to either read the word or hear the word, to spend time together as a family both in our homes but also as a church family around times of both word and sacrament but also times of fellowship. Bless Lord then we ask our fellowship this evening to give you praise for it while we can join together informally also as well as at these formal times of worship. Look after us Lord and keep us, keep us far away from the evil one and keep him far from us. Keep us far from sin this week we ask.

[13:05] Forgive us for sins committed. Lord we abhor them but yet we find ourselves at times still committing them. Keep us again Lord from the evil one as he will no doubt seek to attack and assail us given this weekend.

[13:24] Lord you would look after us, look after your people and remind us of our power over him. It's a power not found in ourselves but it's a power found in our savior and because we are in him the power that is in us is greater than the power that is outside of us and the evil one and his armies may rail against us.

[13:46] For the gates of hell will not prevail because with us we have the savior, the king and the lord. The one who watched satan fall from heaven like lightning, the one who cast him down and the one who will one day cast him into a fiery pit when it's prepared for him. Until we see these days of justice and these days of glory where we ask you to keep us serving you faithfully and serving you willingly. Let's call these things in and through and for Jesus in his precious name's sake. Amen.

[14:19] Let's read in God's word the book of Revelation. Excuse me, Revelation chapter 19. Revelation chapter 19.

[14:33] We come to the culmination of our theme over the last few days. Revelation chapter 19.

[14:47] Let's hear together the word of God. After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven crying out, Hallelujah.

[14:58] Hallelujah. Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. For his judgments are true and just. For he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, has avenged on her the blood of his servants.

[15:12] Once more they cried out, Hallelujah. The smoke from her goes up forever and ever. Twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne saying, Amen.

[15:24] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. From the throne came a voice saying, Praise our God, all you as servants, you who fear him, small and great. Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters, like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, Hallelujah.

[15:45] For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.

[15:57] It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure. For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, Write this.

[16:10] Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true words of God. Then I fell down at his feet to worship him.

[16:21] But he said to me, You must not do that. I am a fellow servant with you, and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

[16:34] Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. For one sitting on it is called Faithful and True. And in righteousness he judges and makes war.

[16:45] His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems. And he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood.

[16:55] And the name by which he is called is the Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

[17:07] From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which you strike down the nations. And he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

[17:18] On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. When I saw an angel standing in the sun with a loud voice, he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead.

[17:33] Come gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.

[17:47] I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. The beast was captured. And with it the false prophet, who in its presence had done the signs by which he had deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image.

[18:07] These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. The rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse. And all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

[18:20] And then we give praise to God for these words, which are his words and are true words. Let's again sing to God's praise, this time from Psalm 122.

[18:33] Scottish Psalter, Psalm 122. Psalm 122. We're singing the whole psalm together. I joyed when to the house of God.

[18:44] Go up, they said to me. Jerusalem within thy gates, our feet shall standing be. Jerusalem as a city is, compactly built together. And to that place the tribes go up.

[18:56] The tribes of God go thither. Psalm 122. The whole psalm to God's praise. Jerusalem as a city is, When to that place the tribes go up.

[19:35] Come back, people together. And to that place the tribes go up.

[19:47] The tribes of God go thither. To his best bested one he heard.

[19:59] To God's praise. To God's praise. Films du zum nered rocking.

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[20:24] going as a city não. The main duverage sansこと ha parce devolt be.

[20:35] But still prosperity. Therefore I wish that peace makes still within thy walls regain.

[20:52] And heaven may thy palaces prosperity regain.

[21:05] Now for thy friends and brethren saints, please be in thee thy strength.

[21:17] And for the house of God our Lord, I seek thy good, O Lord.

[21:28] Amen. Amen. Back to the chapter we had there just for a short time looking at the culmination of what we've been looking at the last few days.

[21:39] Revelation chapter 19 verse 6 down to verse 9. Revelation 19 verses 6 down to verse 9.

[21:54] And I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters, like the sound of a mighty peals of thunder, crying out, Hallelujah! For the Lord our God almighty reigns.

[22:07] Let us rejoice and exult and give him glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. And so on. Let us go down roughly to verse 9 and verse 10.

[22:20] See how we get on together this evening. Again, this is the final of our three-part series. Remember last night we saw the beauty of the bride and the king.

[22:34] And this morning we're reminded just of the love that the king has for the bride. But this evening we see we're here finally.

[22:46] In one sense, brothers and sisters, we are at this moment described often in scripture as the bride of Christ. Remember way back when we looked at the kingdom of God.

[22:59] We had a quite confusing statement at first that makes sense. Talking about the kingdom of God, we often say it's now, but also not yet. So it's now, but not yet.

[23:11] Everyone here who knows and loves Jesus, we are part of God's kingdom, aren't we? We are part of the kingdom of God. Christ has come to take the kingdom to the world. When Christ came, the kingdom comes down with him.

[23:23] And God's kingdom is there established. We're part of God's kingdom. At the same time, we know there is ahead of us a greater kingdom still to come. A greater fulfillment of that kingdom.

[23:36] It's the same with the marriage. In many places, we are called already the bride of Christ. As believers, we can call ourselves quite easily his bride, quite happily with scripture's backing.

[23:50] But there is this sense of, oh, we're now a bride. There is still a greater truth ahead. And that is seen here, shown to us beautifully in Revelation.

[24:04] Again, as I said before, when we come to Revelation, we're always mindful that God has chosen in his wisdom to speak and to show his truth using different genres.

[24:18] In the Psalms, we see God speaks in poetry. Throughout the prophecies, at times, God speaks in poetry. God speaks in narrative form as he gives the account of the history of his people.

[24:29] God speaks in prophecy. And here in Revelation, we are aware that much of Revelation, it is symbol, it is images that tell us, as best we can understand, in human language, what is coming at the end.

[24:44] What the end will look like. Just for context, we read at the start of chapter 19 there. We see at the end of chapter 18, the end of Babylon, the end of this mighty enemy of God's people.

[25:05] We see that then has culminated with the casting of this evil into the pit. And it's from that casting of evil, it's from that symbol of evil being thrown away, that then comes the great cry, the great joy of verse 6.

[25:23] And in verse 1 of chapter 19, we see a loud voice crying out, Hallelujah! Yes, it's a cry of joy, but it's a solemn cry. It's a solemn cry that cries out about the destruction of this evil that has plagued the church since the start.

[25:40] And what that is, is a sermon for a different evening. But the cry in verse 6, it's a different type of cry. Yes, it is great, and it's praising God, but there's no solemnity here.

[25:55] This is pure joy. When I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters, like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out.

[26:07] This is, in verse 6 and verse 7, this is the cry of the great crowd. The angels, as it were, who from the very start of their creation, they have witnessed without full understanding, we're told that.

[26:23] But the angels, they desire to know more, but they can't ever fully understand, at least now, what is going on. But they're faithful servants, the angels, who haven't fallen.

[26:35] All the heavenly hosts, all the creatures that God has made to worship Him, they're all around Him here in glory. The image here is heaven, full of these heavenly beings, of angels, of our various ranks, of the heavenly creatures, of beings perhaps we have so little understanding of.

[26:57] But yet they are there, in their multitudes, in their tens or hundreds of thousands or more. And heaven is seen to be full of noise.

[27:09] The voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters. And what are these crowds of beings? What are they crying out?

[27:21] With one voice we are praising God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns.

[27:32] Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory. And here is the cause of our celebration. The marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.

[27:46] It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure. Bright and pure. With this crowd crying out, there's some discussion here.

[28:08] I'm quite happy to say where I fall. I think this is our voices too. We will join in with the heavenly host. As right now, those who have gone before us into glory, whose souls are now back with God who made them.

[28:24] Until they receive again the resurrection bodies. We know and we see in Revelation that they are crying out. How long? They are waiting with expectation. They are praising God.

[28:36] And together, ourselves, as we arrive in the new heavens and new earth. As glory is revealed to us. As we await what is ahead of us. The cry is given out.

[28:47] It's all done. It's all ready. It's all ready. It's all ready. As I said this morning, it's one of these occasions where a marriage image is used because we can understand that.

[29:03] This is unlike any earthly marriage. In one sense, this is a marriage where everything has been prepared for us. For those of us who are married and, for most many of us, that enjoyed the preparation of marriage and all the planning and goes into it.

[29:19] But at the end of the day, it's still a lot of planning. Invites and everything and all the complications of actually planning out a small wedding or a big wedding, whatever you may have had. But this is a wedding that's so unlike any human wedding.

[29:32] Everything's been done for us. Everything's been done for us. We arrive ready. We arrive waiting. This is the long-awaited marriage.

[29:45] The long-awaited feast. This has been awaited since the fall. Since the moment our great head, Adam. The moment that he gave in.

[30:00] The moment that sin entered the world. The moment that he failed to perform his priestly, kingly duties over the garden. And admitted to, admitted to, admitted to, who allowed sin in.

[30:15] Who then did not admit that sin to God. The moment we see the fall take place. We see then death into the world. We see murder pretty quickly. We see all the violence, all the horror.

[30:28] As you trace your way through Genesis. It's one of these things. Recently I've been reading through Genesis in a faster way than normal. Just trying to get through it.

[30:40] Just to get the overview again. And when you try and read a book in the Bible like Genesis. In say 20 days or 10 days. Whatever. How fast you can do it. You see the arc.

[30:51] You see the theme take place. It's just getting worse and worse. You see that, don't you? As the ages the Lord allows people to live decrease. As sin increases, the ages decrease.

[31:04] And the sin gets worse. And the horror gets worse. And the description gets worse of the sin in the world. And you think, wow. Right from the fall.

[31:15] The whole creation and the Lord's people. Have been crying out for this final day. Because at this marriage supper. All that is gone. There is no more suffering.

[31:27] There is no more sin. There is no more being out there on our own. We're now fully and eternally. In with our husband. In with our king. In with Jesus.

[31:40] With him forever. I waited since the fall. I waited for all the years. Hundreds and thousands of years. Of the journey of God's people.

[31:54] For the people of Israel. For all the years of their journey. In all the various forms it took. Into captivity and out. And in again and out. Then being captive themselves willingly.

[32:06] To false gods. Following the ways of the world. Following the ways of the evil one. All the prophets and prophecies. All the journey it took. All looking forward to this final day.

[32:22] And then we see the birth of the church. The Holy Spirit. When he descends into the lives of his people. And we see the church flourishing. Thousands being added.

[32:34] To the church in Acts. I was reading recently. A commentary on Acts. We hope to start of course. Our series on Acts. God willing. A week. This evening. That's.

[32:45] That's a plan as it stands. And you read. And you think. Well. Thousands of people. Thousands of believers. There's thousands being added into the church. All the time. Wow.

[32:56] Why can't we have that anymore? We would love that. Wouldn't we? To have these thousands of people join. And this one commentator stated. Are we ready also then. To accept.

[33:07] The thousands of lashes. As it were. That the people of God suffered. In these days. The church is birthed. We could say. The New Testament church. But from the second of its birth.

[33:19] We see attack. And persecution. And torture. And violence. And you trace then. The whole early history. Of the church.

[33:30] The first generation. And those the apostles taught. Whose writings we have. Their generation. And following on then. Not just the external attack.

[33:41] And violence. The internal schisms. And heresies. And evil coming within. Taking and ripping the church to bits. Two thousand plus years now.

[33:54] Of just longing for this day. And believers. And believers. Never mind the. Two thousand odd years. Or church history. Brothers and sisters.

[34:06] Your own story. Our own story. Since. The day we first. Were aware. Of the Lord's work. In our life. How at times.

[34:18] I am sure. Many. If not all of us. Have longed. Just to be. At this day. These days. These weeks. These. Perhaps for some.

[34:29] These years. Where you think. I just. I just. It's just too much. You know. It's just too heavy. My own sin. Sin of the world. Sickness.

[34:40] Mental illness. Mental illness. Physical illness. Spiritual pain. So on. And so on. And so on. I'm always. Scared to get examples. Because.

[34:51] It's so broad. Isn't it? We live in a world. Where we know. There's so much suffering. And the children of God. We suffer. Just the same. As those. Who as of yet. Don't know him.

[35:02] We lose people. We love. We worry about those. We love. We have concerns. For our relatives. And our loved ones. And so on. And so on. And so on. In our own lives.

[35:14] Are we not so. Ready. And just longing. To see. And to hear. For ourselves. The great cry. Of these verses.

[35:25] One day. One day soon. And it's soon. Because. Life. Is so quick. That I'm saying that at 30.

[35:37] And I know you think. Well. What's that? I hear you. And I agree with you. But man. Life is quick. Speaking to a brother recently.

[35:48] He's been married. A lot longer than we have been. I mean. A year and a half of marriage. Has gone by. Like that. A year of life.

[36:00] A year and a half. Of life. Here with yourselves. Has gone by. Of that. Older believers. Brothers and sisters. You agree. I know. You will agree.

[36:11] You've said it often to me. How quickly. Life's journey. Passes. By. And goes on. And soon. And very soon. We will hear. These words. This cry.

[36:22] Will be heard. In our hearing. We will join the cry. But then also. Not just join. The heavenly host. We will have something. The heavenly host. Will never have. The angels.

[36:33] As they worship God. As they praise God. As they sing. And shout out. The verses. Here to God. They can never. Have. What we will have. Brothers and sisters.

[36:44] They will never have. The full joy. Of what it is. To be. Married. To be joined. With the king. It's not for them. To have that. It's not their lot.

[36:55] They can never understand that. They worship God. They worship him. They love him. They serve him. But it's for us. And us alone. To have the great joy.

[37:06] Of attending. The marriage supper. Not as. Highly esteemed guests. But we attend it. As. His. Bride. We'll see that more.

[37:18] Just in a second. That's the great crowd. Then briefly then. The great bride. Herself. In verse 8. It was granted to her. The bride.

[37:29] To clothe herself. With fine linen. Bright and pure. For the fine linen. Is the righteous deeds. Of. The saints. What is the goodness of the saints?

[37:41] Well. The many ways. We serve the Lord. The many ways. We seek to. To love the Lord. What is then. Our righteous deeds. Where. Is it. Are they.

[37:52] Are they. Are they righteous deeds. Because we're just. Really good Christians. Or. We strive to be. What are. Or what is. As you say.

[38:03] The basis. Of the righteous deeds. Of the saints. Is it not the fact. We are bought. With. A precious price. Is it not the fact. That his righteousness. Is our righteousness.

[38:15] That we are in him. And that he is. In. Us. Fine linens. That symbol. Of richness. That symbol. Also.

[38:26] Of. Kingly power. See it later on. In verse 11. Onwards. That. Fine linen. Thinking this day. To have bright. Fine. White.

[38:37] Linen. That's a status symbol. You're rich. You're powerful. You can afford linen. Of that quality. And have it. Washed. To that. Very specific way. That's power.

[38:48] That's money. We are clothed. We are clothed. She is clothed. Brothers and sisters. We are clothed. As we read in Psalm 45. With the most glorious of linen. White linen.

[38:59] Interwoven with gold. With the aroma of our king. Surrounding us. Bright. Not as white. Note that. Fine linen. Bright.

[39:10] And pure. Brightness. That shining glory of God. That symbol of holiness. And pure. We see. In the revelation. That the saints. Have been washed. And have washed. Their robes.

[39:21] In the blood of the lamb. That great. Irony. That great. Juxtaposition. That by washing something. In the blood. Which we know. Blood stains clothes. In the washing of the blood. Of our saviour.

[39:32] We are made. In the washing of the blood. Of our saviour. We are made clean. As it were. Our covering. Is made clean. We are made clean. Well here is the bride. Washed. Perfected.

[39:43] Made whole. Made pure. By the finished work. Of her king. Her saviour. And her friend. And the great truth is. Brothers and sisters. Yes. On that day.

[39:54] We will be. In our resurrection bodies. On that day. We will be. Truly glorious. With no more. Mark. Or stain. Or sin. No more. No more.

[40:05] Illness. No more. In our resurrection bodies. In that day. We will be. In our resurrection bodies. And that day. We will be truly glorious. With no more.

[40:16] Mark. Or stain. No more illness, no more pain, no more disease, no more failings, no more flaws. And we look forward to that day.

[40:27] And we will be glorious, quite physically, quite literally, we will be glorious in our body. But in one sense, this verse applies to us right now.

[40:41] As we said last night and this morning, we are already clothed in his righteousness. He has already given us, as it were, that covering of his perfection. We already find ourselves enrobed by him.

[40:56] When he became sin on that cross, that great transference took place where he became sin for the sake of his people. On that cross, he was punished for all the sins of all his people.

[41:11] So that we, who are his people, would receive his total, full, perfect righteousness, goodness.

[41:25] His covering. His love. The great crowd praises the great bride.

[41:36] It brings us now down to verse 9. We have, we could say, the great invite.

[41:46] And the angel said to me, write this. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, these are the true words of God.

[42:01] Blessed are those who are invited.

[42:14] Blessed are those who are invited. Blessed are those who hear the invite to the marriage supper. Friends, week after week, after week, after year, after decade.

[42:26] You've been hearing in various ways, from various men. Various sermons and talks. Through tears. Through agony.

[42:37] Through joy at times. You have heard again and again. And received again and again. The invite. The gospel invite. To this great marriage feast.

[42:53] It's a blessing to hear the invite. There's a greater blessing then in receiving the invite. We used the same illustration last week.

[43:06] I'll use it again. I'll use it again. Last week we used it for Christians who should be at the table. I'll broaden out tonight. You're being invited just now.

[43:19] Everyone here. Everyone here. Brothers, sisters and friends. Brothers and sisters, we've accepted this invite. We know the Lord. Friends.

[43:31] The invite is to you. We're at pains. At times it feels that scripture is crying out.

[43:42] The invite is for all people everywhere. And we've covered this before in numerous ways, in numerous times. Imagine you're invited. Don't imagine.

[43:55] We're slowly working through the congregation. Very slowly. But we hope to invite every single person at some point to dinner in the manse. Just to say that now. When the invite comes, please don't panic.

[44:07] It's not just you. We're working our way through. It won't be... We're slowly doing it. Working our way through, as best we can, every single person to invite you. Groups, sometimes individuals.

[44:20] Whatever. There's no rhyme reason to it. Whatever we can manage, we're doing it. So when the invite comes, don't panic. Everyone's getting it at some point. Imagine you get the invite to the manse.

[44:33] And you say, right. You agree to it. You say, okay. You understand. You've been invited to come. And you're told the food's ready for you. It's all done. All bought. All prepared. All cooked.

[44:43] The table's set. And you come to the manse gate. And we say, come in. Come in. Sit down. Oh, I can't. No. No.

[44:54] I won't. I don't believe I'm really invited. You've been invited. No. This is far enough from me, thanks. You can smell the food.

[45:07] We're telling you it's ready. Telling you all the preparation's been made. But yet, you won't come past the gate. Whatever reason you have. That's an excuse at the end of the day. You aren't worthy enough.

[45:18] You aren't good enough. You aren't invited enough. Take your pick. Take your pick. Whatever excuse. You've been using. Because the reality is.

[45:28] That's a silly illustration. Because a dinner in a manse. It's dinner in a manse. What you're saying no to here. But this invite. Is no passing dinner. Made by us up the road there.

[45:39] This is eternal life. You are passing by. And giving up. And the invite's clear. Your table is set for you. And it's not just any old invite.

[45:52] You're invited to the back table somewhere. You're at the very front. You're beside the king. It's your place there beside him. And he says, come. And sit beside me.

[46:06] And still. And still. And still. He keeps saying no. Who's been invited.

[46:18] Who are those invited. Here's the glorious truth. We saw this morning. There are many invited. And together. Of all many.

[46:29] We make the one. Bride of our saviour. The one bride. Of. Our. Saviour. Again. There's not invite.

[46:40] To even be an honoured guest. There's not invite even. To the top table. There's not invite. To sit beside the king. At the centre. If you like. Of the top.

[46:51] Table. You've seen. Today. And you've heard. The last few days.

[47:03] Of all the love. Of the king. For his bride. Of all the work. The king has done. To serve his bride. To save his bride. To show his love.

[47:14] To his bride. And yet again. This evening. I'm a close of this. Yet again. This evening. You have been given. The invite. And reminded. Of the blessing you have.

[47:24] And even hearing this invite. And if this evening. You go home. Just after his service. And you don't even consider.

[47:35] What this invite. Could mean for you. That's the most. Heartbreaking thing. Not because I've wasted. My half hour preaching. I'll be doing this.

[47:46] Until the day the Lord. Calls me away. Or calls me home. But it's heartbreaking. Because you've wasted. Yet one more chance.

[47:57] Where the Lord is speaking to you. And is saying to you. Will you not come. And take your place. At the table. Prepared for you. I said before.

[48:16] I can't preach you into the kingdom. I can't preach you in. I can't convince you to come in. You know.

[48:27] I can spend. Take a month off. And. The best sermon I've ever written. My whole life. Every single word. A knife to your soul. My preaching won't save you.

[48:42] My pleading. Won't save you. Although I keep doing it. Salvation is found. Only in coming. To Jesus yourself.

[48:53] And saying to him. I don't deserve to sit beside you. I don't deserve a place beside you. I don't think I should be beside you. But yet. I believe. That you have said to me.

[49:05] You've prepared a place for me. You've purchased that place. With a precious price. Of your blood. Therefore. I accept it. I don't deserve it.

[49:16] I'm scared of it. But I accept it. It's as simple as that. But. My plea.

[49:26] And our pleas. As a congregation. Is please don't waste. Any more time. Accept the invite. To. To come to know Jesus.

[49:37] And on that great day. On that great day. Our desire. And our prayer is. That together. Every one of us here. This evening. Will be there. At that great. Final. Eternal.

[49:49] Feast. That marriage celebration. As we look ahead. To eternal joy. Eternal peace. Eternal fellowship. For eternal saviour.

[50:01] Spare heads now. A word of prayer. Lord. We thank you. Once more. For the. The gift of your word. And the beauty of it. Lord. You would encourage.

[50:11] Your people this evening. Help us. To understand. Once more. That we are yours. And you are ours. And all that means for us. The beauty of it. And the glory of it.

[50:21] Lord. We pray especially this evening. Once more. For dear friends. Who we love so dearly. Who have heard. Once more. Of a simple gospel invite. Lord.

[50:32] Lord. You would work in hearts. And work in souls. And intellects. Lord. You would take a head knowledge. And make it a heart knowledge. You would open up.

[50:42] Ears that are closed. And you would open up. Terrified lips. To praise your name. The work has been done. And we give you praise for that. As you invite us.

[50:54] To come and partake of it. Thank you Lord. For this weekend. Thank you. For the chance we had. Over these days. To praise your holy name. Give us rest. This new week. And help us be confident.

[51:05] To go forward. Knowing that we have sat. At your table. And dined with you. Let's call these things. In and through. And for Jesus. In his precious name's sake. Amen. Let's bring our time.

[51:18] To a close. Scottish Psalter. And Psalm 34. Scottish Psalter. Psalm 34. Then sing verse 3.

[51:38] Down to verse 9. Psalm 34. Verses 3. Down to verse 9. Extol the Lord with me. That has exalted his name together.

[51:51] I sought the Lord. He heard and did me from. All fears deliver. Psalm 34. Verses 3. Down to verse 9. To God's praise. Truth point. Let's pop in the next book.

[52:04] The Lord with me. Let us. Exalted terre.

[52:16] I sought the Lord. Here and there may come a fear to live.

[52:34] Here to him, I'm fighting there. God's shame will bear their sins.

[52:51] This group of night, God's shame will bear their sins.

[53:08] The angel of the Lord in the house, and crowned and crowned and crowned.

[53:23] God's shame will bear their sins. God's shame will bear their sins.

[53:38] God's shame will bear their sins. God's shame will bear their sins.

[53:53] God's shame will bear their sins. Dear God's sins, now that in fear shall be upon the rest.

[54:18]  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.