[0:00] Our reading this morning is taken from the New Testament and from the first letter of Peter. 1 Peter chapter 3, we're going to read from verse 8 of that chapter to the end of the chapter at verse 22.
[0:18] So 1 Peter chapter 3 and reading from verse 8. 1 Peter chapter 3, reading from verse 8 to verse 22.
[0:45] Let's read together and hear the word of God. Finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart and a humble mind.
[1:03] Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling. But on the contrary, bless. For to this you were called that you may obtain a blessing.
[1:16] For whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good.
[1:29] Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
[1:42] Now, who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed.
[1:55] Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. But in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy. Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.
[2:10] Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience. So that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
[2:24] For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.
[2:44] Being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison. Because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared.
[3:02] In which a few, that is eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you. Not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience.
[3:17] Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven. And is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers, having been subjected to him.
[3:30] Amen. Amen. And this is the word of God. May he bless it to us this morning. Well, before we come to look at God's word, we're going to sing together from Sing Psalms.
[3:45] Psalm 119. Psalm 119, verses 129 through 136. Psalm 119, verses 129 through 136.
[4:01] That's page 165 in the Psalter. Your statutes, Lord, are wonderful, so I obey them from the heart. Your words, as they unfold, give light and truth to simple minds in part.
[4:16] Psalm 119, verses 129. Your statutes, Lord, are wonderful, so I obey them from my heart.
[4:43] Your words, as they unfold, give light and truth to simple minds in part.
[5:02] With open mouth, I pass and yearn to know.
[5:13] All the laws that you proclaim. Show me the mercy you extend to those who love and praise your name.
[5:39] Direct my footsteps in your word. Let sin not hold me in its sway.
[5:58] From man's oppression set me free. From man's oppression set me free. A pure romance I may obey.
[6:16] Upon yourself, I shine your face. Teach me the statutes you have made.
[6:36] My eyes shed things of bitter tears. Because your law is sought to obey.
[6:55] Thank you. Thank you. Our text this morning is taken from reading 1st Peter chapter 3 and at the beginning of verse 18.
[7:27] I think in the NIV it is Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
[7:48] Moses, it is said, died at the age of 120. The Bible tells us that right to the end of his life he was a strong man. Religious teachers tell us that Buddha died in calm serenity at the age of 80, surrounded by a host of followers who had been won over to his philosophy.
[8:12] Confucius died at 72 in his hometown of Lu in China, leaving a group of noble disciples to carry on his work. Muhammad, according to Muslim tradition, died at Mecca in the arms of his favourite wife.
[8:28] He was 62, a man of wealth and power, the political ruler of a united Arabia. Sometimes you hear it said that all religions are basically the same.
[8:43] All religions lead to God. Be good, be religious, and you'll get to heaven.
[8:55] And sometimes it's claimed that all great religions of the world are basically the same in their origin. Each were created by great men of intellect and understanding and spiritual insight, who upon discovering some great religious truth or principle spent their whole lives teaching that to others.
[9:20] And certainly, as far as elements of Judaism and Buddhism and Confucianism and Islam are concerned, there is a measure of truth in that assertion.
[9:32] All these religions were founded by men who died in relatively old age. They died having spent their lives passing on their beliefs to others.
[9:46] They died for the most part amidst popular acclaim, the future of their movements guaranteed. In the whole gamut of world religions, there is only one that stands out as being radically different.
[10:04] And that is Christianity. Jesus died at the age of 33. After a teaching ministry of only two or three years.
[10:17] He was rejected by his own countrymen. He was betrayed and denied and deserted by his closest disciples and followers. The Bible tells us he was abandoned and forsaken even by God himself.
[10:36] The founder of Christianity did not die in old age. He did not die after some long extensive teaching ministry. He did not die amidst popular acclaim.
[10:49] His death was premature and tragic and lonely on a cross. Despised and rejected by men.
[11:03] A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And surely the big question that that raises is this. How did this man, who ended his life in such utter shame and disgrace, become the founder of the most important and influential religion the world has ever known?
[11:28] And the answer in part to that question lies in the nature and the significance of his death. Because that is where the biographical accounts of his life and ministry, the Gospels, focus our attention.
[11:44] By any normal standard. The Gospels are strange biographies. If someone is going to write someone's life history, they do not normally, as for example John does, spend the first 11 chapters on 99% of Jesus' life and 10 chapters on the last week.
[12:05] And it's the same with all the Gospels. Their focus is on Jesus' death. Some commentators describe Mark's Gospel as an extended passion narrative.
[12:19] Why is that? It is because the Apostles and the Gospel writers realised that this was the key thing. This was the most important thing about Jesus.
[12:32] They realised that the cross is everything. And yet that of course just begs the question, doesn't it? Why?
[12:43] Why do the Gospels focus their attention on the public execution of Jesus Christ? What was the significance of Christ's death? What was so special about it?
[12:56] Why has it been the burden of the Christian message and Christian preaching for 2,000 years? Why do Christians call the day of his death Good Friday? What is so good about it?
[13:09] And why do we today celebrate that death around a table spread with bread and wine? Our text today tells us exactly why.
[13:23] Christ died. Christ died. Christ suffered for sins. Once for all. The righteous for the unrighteous. To bring us or to bring you to God.
[13:36] And what Peter's words reveal is that Jesus' death had a unique purpose. In his death, Jesus was accomplishing something that no other death could.
[13:49] And when the apostolic writers of the New Testament speak, or of the cross or the death of Jesus, they're not simply referring to a physical wooden cross or the mere fact of his death.
[14:03] They are referring to the import of his death. To the significance of what was achieved there. That's what Christian theologians talk about, the work of Christ on the cross.
[14:14] Referring to that which Jesus accomplished by his suffering and death. And our text this morning highlights for us some important aspects of Christ's work upon the cross.
[14:30] Let me mention some of these. And the first is this. I want you to notice with me that it was a costly work.
[14:41] A costly work. Christ suffered, it says. Christ suffered. Also, I think the NIV simply, some manuscripts, I think that's in a footnote in the ESV.
[14:59] Christ died. The original people to whom Peter was writing were Christians who were undergoing great suffering and trial.
[15:12] And Peter wanted to remind them of what happened to the Lord Jesus. He wanted to underline for them the fact of Jesus' suffering. That they might be encouraged and strengthened by his example.
[15:26] He was the greatest example of someone suffering for doing good. And yet, it's a kind of ironic that in this passage of 1 Peter 3, in which Peter is highlighting the example of Jesus, that he speaks so clearly of the purpose of the cross.
[15:48] For Christ also suffered, once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.
[16:04] The events leading up to and including Jesus' death are sometimes referred to, aren't they, as his passion. It's a word that just means his suffering. The death of Jesus on the cross was not something easy and painless.
[16:21] It wasn't something imaginary or unreal. It was, of course, an excruciating death, literally. And this point is made not only in the Gospels, but in many parts of the New Testament.
[16:35] Hebrews 13.12, Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Jesus himself said as he traveled towards Jerusalem, the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
[16:56] And the events of Gethsemane, the garden, and the events of Calvary give us a glimpse. They give us a perspective on that suffering.
[17:09] In the garden, we're told that Jesus visibly shrank from the death he had to face. The prospect of that death was something that troubled him, that distressed him.
[17:20] Three times he prays, my father, if it be possible, may this cup be taken from me. That cup was a reference, of course, not to the physical pain of flogging and crucifixion, but to the pain of being abandoned and forsaken by his father.
[17:41] Consumed by the wrath of God against sin. It's actually interesting how the New Testament makes the Gospels make very little of the obvious physical sufferings that accompany crucifixion.
[17:59] In Gethsemane, Jesus shrank from the cup that was placed before him. The cup was a regular Old Testament symbol of God's wrath and judgment. The psalmist says, In the hand of the Lord is a cup of foaming wine mixed with spices.
[18:15] He pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs. And so the ultimate agony and suffering of the cross for Jesus was drinking down that cup full of the moral pollution of the human race.
[18:32] Dying as a man utterly cursed and forsaken and abandoned by God. As I was listening to Thomas last night and that passage in Mark 15.
[18:49] And the passage, you remember, where Jesus is offered. He's suffering on the cross. He's dying on the cross. And the Gospel writers tell us how he was offered a drink, wine and myrrh and so forth.
[19:03] And how he refused that. And refused to take it. That kind of drink was a kind of, I suppose, a primitive narcotic.
[19:15] It was designed to dull the senses. To make things more bearable. But that was a cup that Jesus refused to drink.
[19:30] Why was that? Because he had to be in full possession of all his faculties. He had a ministry to perform on the cross. He had to suffer and die.
[19:43] There was to be no immunity or escape for Jesus. He had to taste all of death's bitterness and fear.
[19:56] I remember a long time ago now. Hearing a sermon by Professor MacLeod. And he was preaching at the Good Friday service at St. George's Tron in Glasgow.
[20:07] It must be 25 years ago or something. And his title was The Unaesthetized Saviour. And he told a story, I think, in that sermon of being with someone in a hospice who was dying.
[20:27] And the man refused the drugs that they offered him. And he said this. I want to be alive when I die.
[20:40] And that was Jesus on the cross. Refusing the narcotic that was offered him. Because he had to be alive when he died.
[20:57] Jesus' death was costly. He suffered. He missed nothing. But he plumbed the depths of human anguish and pain on the cross.
[21:14] And friends, that means there is one who understands. There is one who knows. When we too travel that path of suffering and pain.
[21:27] There is one who knows. There is one who knows. The despondency. And the questions. And the loneliness. And the pain.
[21:39] That sometimes come our way. For Christ. Also. Suffered. The old hymns.
[21:52] Puts it like this, doesn't it? We may not know. We cannot tell. What pains he had to bear. But we believe it was for us.
[22:05] He hung. And suffered there. A costly work. But secondly here. A sacrificial work.
[22:17] You'll notice also. Christ also suffered. Once for sins. For sins. Sin is the great problem.
[22:28] Isn't it? It's the great problem for men and women. It's what creates that barrier between ourselves and our creator God. It represents all that is wrong with us.
[22:42] And all that is wrong with our world. All that is broken. All that is misshaped. All that is distorted. Represents all our rebellion against our creator.
[22:56] All that makes us enemies of God. All that places us under the judgment and the wrath of God. My goodness. How can we come before God?
[23:09] So unclean. So filthy. So dirty. So stained. The phrase for sins here.
[23:21] Is likely derived from the language of the Greek Old Testament. There it was used to refer to the sacrifice that was offered in the Old Testament on the Day of Atonement.
[23:34] That sacrifice was offered for sins. And many of you will know the ritual involved. The high priest.
[23:45] The male goats. The sin offering. One of the goats sacrificed its blood sprinkled in the inner part of the tabernacle or temple. In the Holy of Holies.
[23:58] It was the place where the Ark of the Covenant had been kept. Containing the tablets of the commandments. Over the top of the Ark was a golden slab known as the mercy seat.
[24:13] The place of propitiation. A word that means to turn aside someone's wrath or anger through the payment of a price. And only on that one day could...
[24:24] One day of the year could anyone, the high priest, enter the Holy of Holies. Sprinkle the blood of sacrifice on the mercy seat. And then he would come out and lay his hands on the head of the living goat and confess the sins of the people.
[24:42] And the second goat was driven outside the camp. The means of atonement signified by the sacrifice. And the shedding and sprinkling of blood. On behalf of the guilty.
[24:53] Only by this was access to God's presence granted. Only of God's anger and wrath be turned aside. And the effect of that atonement symbolized by the scapegoat.
[25:07] The carrying away of the sin of the people. And yet of course all these rituals. Rituals. The ritual sacrifice of animals in the Old Testament.
[25:17] And even the day of atonement itself. Could never really atone for human sin. And human rebellion. And human depravity. I mean how could it do? The writer to the Hebrew says it is impossible.
[25:33] That the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. These sacrifices were a foreshadowing. A pointing forward. To the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
[25:47] There's a hymn by Isaac Watts that captures the thought. Not all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain. Could give the guilty conscience peace.
[25:58] Or wash away our stain. But Christ the heavenly lamb. Takes all our sins away. The sacrifice of nobler name. And richer blood than they.
[26:12] And the point is this. That access into the presence of a holy God is not cheap. God does not say to people.
[26:22] Oh just come any old way. There is only one way. That men and women can come before a holy God. And Paul tells us in Romans 3.25. That it is Jesus.
[26:33] He is the sacrifice. He is our propitiation. He is our mercy seat. The death of Jesus on the cross was a sacrificial death. A fulfillment of all that the Old Testament system pointed forward to.
[26:48] It was for sins. The blood shed to take away sin and cancel its effects. Let's be clear. Let's be clear that this.
[27:00] The sin that Jesus bore upon the cross. Is not sin. Is some sort of vague intellectual abstraction. He bore our sins upon his body upon the tree.
[27:18] Real sins committed by real people. The sins that we have committed. Our sins. Our lies. Our lust. Our anger. Our selfishness.
[27:29] Our pride. Our apathy. Our hatred. Our cruelty. It was under the weight of all our sin. Jesus Christ was pitched into the very dark hole of suffering and despair and dereliction.
[27:44] John writes in his first letter, this is love. Not that we loved God. But that he loved us.
[27:56] And sent his son as the propitiation for our sins. For Christ suffered for sins.
[28:09] Costly work. A sacrificial work. And also here I think a finished work. Christ also suffered once for sins.
[28:21] Some translations have it once for all. The sacrifices of the Old Testament repeated again and again and again. Every year.
[28:32] Year in and year out. Jesus' sacrifice was once for all. The Jewish sacrificial system.
[28:43] A perpetual round of activity. Sacrifices going on and on and on. The ceremony. The rituals never ceased. The atonement they symbolized.
[28:56] Never complete. Never finished. High priest was always on his feet. There was always another sacrifice to be made. That contrast with Christ's sacrifice on the cross is total.
[29:12] Because his sacrifice is unrepeatable. It is perfect and complete in every way. Remember how in the writer to the Hebrews stresses, emphasizes this point again and again and again.
[29:28] Hebrews 7.27. Unlike other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day. First for his own sins and then for the sins of the people.
[29:38] He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. Hebrews 9.28. So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people.
[29:51] Hebrews 10.10. We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10.12. When this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins.
[30:05] He sat down at the right hand of God. Christ's blood is in every way superior to that of bulls and goats.
[30:16] It is the blood of the eternal covenant. It is the precious blood of Christ. The Lamb of God. Slain and ascends before the foundation of the world. And it's his blood that brings us access into the presence of God.
[30:30] And into heaven itself. And that's why when Jesus died, you'll remember that the curtain of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. His blood brings us access.
[30:45] His blood brings us forgiveness. Remember John the Baptist when he saw Jesus by the river Jordan. What did he exclaim? Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world.
[30:57] And unlike the animal sacrifices of the old covenant, Jesus' sacrifice was completely acceptable to God. A perfect finished work.
[31:10] Cannot be repeated. It cannot be added to. Cannot be augmented. Cannot be supplemented in any way. It can only be trusted. It can only be trusted.
[31:25] Jesus' last words on the cross where it is finished. Tetalestai. A word often stamped over bills in the ancient world to say paid in full.
[31:40] It is finished. Not I am finished. It is finished. My work is accomplished. It is completed. It is done. A finished work.
[31:53] Cannot be improved upon. Cannot be added to. Cannot be repeated. It's absolutely perfect. It can only be trusted. Well, time marches on.
[32:06] Costly work. Sacrificial work. A finished work. Fourthly, you'll notice a substitutionary work. Christ also suffered once for sins.
[32:17] The righteous for the unrighteous. Sometimes the just for the unjust. The death of Jesus on the cross was in our place.
[32:29] Jesus, the righteous one, suffers and dies for the unrighteous. And that concept of a substitute is highly significant and so important.
[32:42] It lies actually both at the heart of sin and the nature at the heart of salvation. John Stott in his book, The Cross of Christ, writes this.
[32:53] The essence of sin is in man substituting himself for God. The essence of salvation is in God substituting himself for man.
[33:05] Sin involves man rising up against God and placing himself where only God should be. Salvation involves God sacrificing himself where only man deserved to be.
[33:18] Sin entails man claiming an authority which belongs to God alone. Salvation entails God accepting the judgment which belongs to man alone.
[33:33] And friends, that's just the very foundation of the Christian life. Remember Paul's words? He talks in Galatians 2.20 about the Son of God.
[33:43] Who loved me and gave himself for me. That substitution brings with it the guarantee.
[33:57] Because he took my place. That my sin can never be revisited. It is completely atoned for.
[34:08] I wonder if you grasp that. If you really understand that. It is completely atoned for.
[34:22] But sometimes we don't understand that, do we? I remember the story being told. It was of a Roman Catholic priest in some part of Asia.
[34:37] Who had great problems. Trouble. He was a good priest. He worked hard in his parish. But he had a problem.
[34:49] And his problem was this. He had committed a sin. In his younger days. When he was in seminary. And it always troubled him. And he had no assurance.
[35:01] None at all. And it troubled him. And it troubled him. And it troubled him. And he had a lady in his congregation. And she was unusual.
[35:13] She used to claim to have visions. And she used to claim to be able to speak to Jesus. And he kind of gave this lady a wide berth usually. Kept her at arm's length.
[35:24] And you can understand why. But one day he was so troubled. And he met this woman on the road. And he was speaking to her. And he said to her. He said the next time you have one of your visions.
[35:37] And you're speaking to Jesus. Ask him. Ask him. What was the sin I committed? When I was back in seminary.
[35:48] And the lady said. Oh yeah. I'll be delighted to do that. No problem at all. I'll have a word with Jesus. That's fine. And off she went. And a few weeks passed. And he was thinking.
[36:00] About this. And he met the woman again. And she was hello. And had a chat. And he said. You know. Did you ever ask Jesus. Did you ever ask Jesus about.
[36:11] About that sin. That I committed in seminary. And the lady said. Oh yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. I did speak to him about that. I said.
[36:23] Well. What did she say? What did he say? Oh. He said. I don't remember.
[36:36] I don't remember. Jeremiah 31.34. I will forgive their iniquities. I will remember.
[36:49] Their sin. No more. I don't remember. Remember. That is because.
[37:02] The work of Christ on the cross. Is a substitutionary work. Punishment of my sin. Has been fully met.
[37:14] In the punishment of the substitute. It. It lies right at the heart. Of the gospel message. And we're here today. And we're going to. Break bread.
[37:25] And we're going to drink the wine. And we're going to. Remember. The God. Who remembers our sins. No more.
[37:40] I think. That gripped. The apostle Paul. The truth. And the reality of that. I think it shaped his. His whole life. And his whole ministry. The son of God.
[37:51] Who loved me. And gave himself. For me. I wonder. Can you say that this morning? I remember the story. Being told of the.
[38:04] Evangelist. Gypsy Smith. Who. Towards the end of his life. He. He had a ministry. It lasted. Almost 70 years.
[38:15] Preaching the gospel. He was a. Sort of. Well-known preacher. Evangelist. In Britain. And also. In the United States. And he was traveling. Across the Atlantic.
[38:26] I think. To one of his last speaking engagements. And he was asked by someone. About the. Secret of his long. And fruitful ministry. How do you do it. Mr. Smith.
[38:37] How do you stay. So fresh. In the things of the Lord. His answer was this. Dear friend. Because I've never lost.
[38:50] The wonder. Of it all. I've never. Lost. The wonder. Costly work.
[39:02] Sacrificial work. Finish work. A substitutionary work. And finally here.
[39:14] A saving work. Notice that. The righteous for the unrighteous. That he. Might bring us. To God.
[39:27] Christ suffered. Christ died. To bring you. To God. He died. To do. For us.
[39:38] What we could not. Ever do. For ourselves. He died. To bring you. To God. This is what Jesus.
[39:49] This is what the gospel is about. Isn't it? Jesus Christ. Brings. Men. And women. Like us. To God. That's the good news. Who is.
[40:00] Who is Peter referring to here. In these words. Who are those. Christ has died for. That they might be brought into God's presence.
[40:12] Well I think the opening verses of the letter. Tell us to whom it was written. In first Peter one and two. To God's elect. Strangers in the world. Who've been chosen. According to the foreknowledge of God.
[40:22] The father. Through the sanctifying work of the spirit. For obedience to Jesus Christ. And sprinkling by his blood. In other words. The you of this. Verse. To bring you to God.
[40:33] To bring us to God. The us of this verse. Is not general. It's actually very specific. It refers to those. Who have been. Chosen. And sanctified. And sprinkled. It refers to those.
[40:44] Who have been given new birth. Into a living hope. Through the resurrection of Jesus. From the dead. It's a reference to those. Who've come to faith. In Jesus. So let me ask you.
[40:57] Has Jesus Christ died. To bring you to God. Have you turned in faith. And repentance. To the Lord Jesus. Doesn't. Doesn't matter.
[41:07] The kind of person you are. Or even the kind of person. You think you are. Jesus Christ died. To bring sinners to God. Our sins may be respectable. Once. Pride. And gossip.
[41:17] And jealousy. And deceit. And hypocrisy. Or our sins may be more obvious. Violence. Or marital unfaithfulness. Or theft. Or whatever.
[41:29] But whatever your sins may be. Let me tell you this. They can be blotted out. They can be wiped away. They can be forgiven. They can be forgotten.
[41:42] Because you're a good person. No. Because you come along to church. No. No. Because you're. Fairly religious. No. Because you say your prayers at night.
[41:52] No. Because you read the Bible. No. Because you haven't done anybody any harm. No. Because you're trying your best. No. Because Christ.
[42:04] Died. To bring you. To God. Christ. Died. To bring you to God. It's the only way. And our good works.
[42:14] And our best efforts. And our fine words. These things. Whatever they may be. They will never. Bring. Any human being. To God. They will never.
[42:24] Bring us forgiveness. There's only one way. And that's through the cross. Costly work. A sacrificial work.
[42:35] A finished work. A substitutionary work. A saving work. Salvation is found. In no one else. There is no other name. Under heaven. Given to men.
[42:46] By which we must. Be saved. No other way. No other way. Of forgiveness. The living Bible. Paraphrases. These verses. Or this verse. Of first Peter.
[42:57] Christ also suffered. He died once. For the sins. Of all of us. Guilty sinners. Although he himself. Was innocent. Of any sin. At any time. That he might bring us. Safely.
[43:08] Home. To God. Safely home. To God. No one else. Has suffered. And died. To bring you home. To God. Certainly not Moses.
[43:21] Or Buddha. Confucius. Or Mohammed. There have been. Lots of noble deaths. Over the years. Moving sacrifices. But Jesus death. Is. Categorically different.
[43:35] It was that God. Might say. To us. Your sins. Are. Forgiven. That we might be brought. To God. It's a story.
[43:47] I think it's from Africa. Somewhere. Of a. Fire. That took place. In a. In a. In a. In a. Remote village. In a. One of these. Little huts.
[43:57] Made of straw. And the fire. Took hold. And because of the. The materials. The little hut. Was made from. It was so flammable. It went.
[44:08] Up like. So quickly. And the family. Within the. The little hut. Were killed. All except. One. One little baby.
[44:20] Little baby boy. Who. It appeared. Had been snatched. Out of the flames. Or just before. As the fire. Had taken. Taken hold. And the baby boy.
[44:30] Had been left. At the center. Of the village. And everyone. Had gathered. And. They had. You know. They were marveling. That this little boy. Had been saved. And rescued. And. And they were saying. This was a miracle.
[44:41] And they were saying. This. The gods. Had shined. You know. You know. This was a great blessing. And. And then. There was a discussion. That took place. To see. Who would adopt. The little. The little boy. And some were saying.
[44:54] Well. We will adopt him. Because you know. We've got a. Large family. And others were saying. Well. I'm a. Prince. And I've got many cattle. And we should adopt this boy. And there was many. Competing voices.
[45:07] And then. A man. Came. Through the crowd. Of villagers. And he said. I. Will adopt the boy. And.
[45:18] Everybody looked at him. He was a nobody. He was a nothing. He did not have many cattle. He wasn't somebody. Rich. Or wealthy. Or significant. Or important. Or had status. In the community.
[45:30] And they looked at him. And they said. You. Why. Why should you adopt this child? And then the man. Raised his hands.
[45:43] Burnt. And charred. And disfigured hands. Disfigured by the flames. He had the greatest claim.
[45:57] The man with the scars. The man with the scars. On his hands. Friends. We may have respect for other. Religious leaders. And teachers. And so forth. But only Jesus.
[46:11] Has the scars. On his hands. Only he can say to us. This is my blood. Shed for the forgiveness. Of sins. Others. Others. Others.
[46:21] Others. May claim to teach. Instruct. Encourage. Only Jesus. Claims. To save. No one else.
[46:32] Can bring us to God. Those. Scars. And wounds. Of Jesus Christ. Speak to us. Of God's forgiveness. No one can bring us that.
[46:45] Without him. We're lost. We will face God's anger and wrath. On our own. We will remain. Unforgiven. Our sins. Will not be forgotten.
[46:57] There's only one way. To be made right. With God. One way. To be forgiven. We give up on ourselves. Discover. We need Jesus.
[47:08] His righteousness. His forgiveness. His cross. The only way to heaven. Is on our knees. Trusting in Jesus Christ. For he is the only person.
[47:20] Who wears still. Those scars. Of rescuing love. Come to him this morning. And then you will be able to say.
[47:34] Christ died. To bring me. To God. Let's pray. Lord. We thank you for the work.
[47:53] Of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you. That it was a costly work. A sacrificial work. A finished work.
[48:05] A substitutionary work. And ultimately. A saving work. Lord. May you apply. That work.
[48:16] To our lives. To our hearts. To our minds. And so as we come. Later on. To the table. We may receive.
[48:29] Jesus Christ. By faith. And we. Lean. Our whole confidence. Upon him. Not upon ourselves. Not upon anything in us. Completely. And utterly.
[48:39] Upon him. Help us to remember you. The one who remembers. Our sins. No more. We pray it in Jesus name.
[48:51] Amen. We sing together. Psalm 130. From sing psalms. Lord.
[49:01] From the depths. I call to you. Lord. Hear me from on high. Give attention. To my voice. When I for mercy. Cry. Lord. In your presence. Who can stand.
[49:12] If you. Our sins record. Yet. Forgiveness. Is with you. That we. May fear you. Lord. Psalm 130. From sing psalms. Page 173.
[49:24] Lord. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Lord. From the depths.
[49:35] I call to you. Lord. Hear me. From on high.
[49:46] God. And give. God. And give. God. And give. God. And give. God. When I. For mercy.
[49:57] God. God. For mercy. God. God. Lord. In your presence. Who can stand.
[50:10] If you. Our sins. Helicopes. English.ensitive.eng lens. surrender.
[50:21] If you. Christian. That we. Find. We counselor. Amen.
[50:42] 1 My hope is in his heart. More than the watchman waits for dawn, my soul waits for the Lord.
[51:05] O Israel, put your hope in God, for mercy is within, and full redemption from their sins this people will redeem.
[51:52] At this point in our service, we come to the Lord's table. It's good to be reminded that it is his table, not ours, not our churches, not belong to any minister or elders, any denomination.
[52:13] It is the Lord's table. It's his. He is the one who invites his people to come and to eat and to drink.
[52:25] We come at his invitation. We come responding to his grace and his goodness. It's a table that's been prepared by Jesus.
[52:45] Prepared at a great cost. Tremendous cost. Prepared by one who still wears the scars on his hands.
[53:00] And he prepares this table for us, his people. For those who believe in his name. For those who have trusted in him for salvation. I think John Newton, it was the hymn writer of amazing grace, who said towards the end of his life, as he was quite old and frail, he said, I have forgotten many things, but there's two things I have not forgotten.
[53:31] I am a great sinner. And Jesus Christ is a great saviour. And friends, that's what this table tells us.
[53:43] It reminds us that we're great sinners. But better than that, more than that, it reminds us that Christ is a great and wonderful saviour.
[53:59] If you belong to him, then come to the table and eat and fellowship with him and enjoy his presence. We sing together in Psalm 118 from verse 15 and following.
[54:18] Page 398. Psalm 118 in the Scottish Psalter from 15 and following and we'll sing until we are ready to come to the table.
[54:39] In dwellings of the righteous His heart His heart the melody Of joy and death The Lord's right hand Thou live unvaliantly The right hand of the mighty Lord Exalted is on high The right hand of the mighty Lord
[55:44] Doth ever valiantly I shall not die But live And shall The words of God Discover The Lord hath me Chastiseth sore But not to death Giver over O said He opened Unto me The gates Of righteousness Then will I enter
[56:47] Into them And I The Lord Will bless This is The gate Of God By it The just Shall Enter And upstairs In The i Help The Will i Help On my safety Green Hope In There Oh cornerstone which builders despise this is the doing of the
[57:55] Lord and wondrous in our eyes we read to you we read to you from these verses of 1 Corinthians chapter 11 Paul writes he says this but I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me in the same way he also took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes let's pray let's pray father thank you and praise you worship you acknowledging all that you have done for us through the Lord Jesus Christ we acknowledge that we are great sinners thank you by your grace we have discovered and found a great Savior
[60:21] Lord we thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ we remember his birth in lowly circumstances we remember his life of perfect obedience to your will remember how he perfectly fulfilled your love internally and externally we thank you that you live the life of perfect righteousness a life for all this we thank you this morning not only for his life and indeed for his teaching and instruction we thank you most of all most wonderful for his death on Calvary's cross for bearing shame and scoffingly in my place condemn his heart
[61:29] Lord we thank you that Jesus Christ died for us that he died for our sins that he died for our salvation that he died for our forgiveness that he died that we might be yours and yours for all his health Lord we thank you that that death was not the end for Jesus Christ we thank you that you raised him from the dead from the third day we thank you that he was proclaimed to him we thank you that he is now exalted to your right hand thank you that he reigns and ruins over all things we thank you this morning that he's here with us in the power of the Holy Spirit
[62:31] Lord we bless you and praise you that you in your mercy and grace stood down to be with us Lord minister by your spirit in our midst this morning make Christ real to us renew us inwardly by your spirit we may truly be on Christ by faith Lord you know us you know all of us in this building this morning you know our hearts and you know our minds Lord do us do us do us minister to us by your grace whoever we are whatever circumstances we find ourselves in Lord if we are your people that we are rich and blessed and strengthened for your service we pray we give thanks for bread and wine and as we set these elements apart for this special
[63:51] Jesus as we take may we take Christ by faith and may he reign and rule in our hearts and in our wounds we pray these things in Jesus name Amen as we come to the table it's good to be reminded of one of the great qualifications coming to this table coming to any table and to any and that is appetite and we're hungry hungry hungry for the things of this world but are we hungry for Jesus Christ do we have an appetite for Christ do we want to once again taste and see that the Lord is beautiful what great privilege it is to come and to take bread and wine come hungry and be on Christ may he reign and may he rule in your heart in your life in your mind and in your soul night in which he was betrayed
[65:38] Jesus took the bread and told that he broke it and after having given thanks he broke it and said this is my Lord it's broken for you it's created and eaten and eaten again in that same night in which he was betrayed and took the cup and said this is in your covenant in my blood and blood that shed in forgiveness and drank from the heaven장 and Central
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