[0:00] Let's begin our worship this evening by singing to God's praise. We're going to sing in Psalm 84 in the Scottish Psalter at verse 6. Psalm 84 at verse 6, page 338 of the psalm book.
[0:15] The tomb is Tramps and Hawkers. Who passing Thurabaker's vale, therein do dig up wells. Also the rain that falleth down, the pools with water fills.
[0:26] Though they from strength and weary go still forward unto strength. Until in Zion they appear before the Lord at length. We'll sing from verse 6a down to the end of the psalm to God's praise.
[0:42] Who passing through Bacchus' vale, therein do dig up wells.
[0:54] Also the rain that falleth down, the pools with water fills.
[1:06] So they from strength and weary go still forward unto strength.
[1:18] Until in Zion they appear before the Lord at length.
[1:30] Lord, what a force my way are here, O Jacob's God give ear.
[1:42] See God our shield look on the face of thy anointed ear.
[1:54] All in thy course on the excess a thousand rather in.
[2:06] My God's house will I keep adored and dwell in tents of sin.
[2:18] What want the Lord's a sun and shield, ill grace and glory give.
[2:30] And dwell with hope no good from them, that of our heed to live.
[2:42] O Lord, that of our heed to the Lord of hosts, that man is truly blessed.
[2:54] Through my assured confidence, on thee alone the rest.
[3:12] Let's come to God in prayer. Let us pray. Lord God of hosts, as the psalmist says, we thank you to be able to come and worship you this evening together.
[3:28] We thank you to be able to come into your place and with your people. To be gathered around your word that speaks to us so powerfully.
[3:39] And to sing your praises from these words that remind us of who you are and the wonder of your grace. That you are the one who the psalmist says, he'll grace and glory give.
[3:52] And will withhold no good from them that uprightly do live. And we thank you that we can enter into the experience of these words. Recognizing, Lord, that you have not withheld anything from us.
[4:07] We so often ask for things that maybe we think we don't get. But Lord, you and your wisdom may keep things from us that we do not require.
[4:18] But we thank you that all that we need to live, move and have our being is supplied by you. And supplied so abundantly. We thank you, Lord, for every provision you make for us.
[4:32] That you are a God of grace and glory. That you are a God who has revealed your grace and glory to us through your Son, Jesus Christ. We thank you that your glory is seen around us.
[4:46] And your grace is experienced even within us. We thank you, Lord, for so much that we have that we take for granted. But help us, Lord, that day by day we will appreciate more.
[5:01] Your wondrous works towards us and towards your kingdom. For we belong to your people. A people who belong to all nations and tribes of this world.
[5:14] We may belong to a place and a town and a family. We may belong to a nation and a country here. But we thank you, Lord, that above all, our citizenship is in heaven.
[5:29] That we are a people, Lord, who as we put our trust in you, would find there that we belong to you as our Father in heaven. That we belong to your people scattered far and wide.
[5:42] And help us, Lord, to find our identity in you. To seek you with all our heart. And to look to you and to trust in you as the maker of heaven and earth.
[5:54] And we do thank you, Lord, for your grace. Your grace so abundant towards your people. Your grace shown in how you gave your own Son.
[6:06] How he came to redeem his people. How he came to save his people from their sins. And we thank you, Lord, that in all that we could not do for ourselves, that you have accomplished it for us.
[6:20] And help us to cry to you. Help us to call upon your name. Help us to know that you are with us. Help us to know your presence day by day. Help us to experience it, Lord, and to share it with others.
[6:34] Help us to rejoice in it. And to be glad for everything that you do for us. So that even as we worship this evening, as we sing your praise, we will do so with joy and delight in our hearts and on our lips.
[6:49] And as we hear and receive your word, that it will fill us up for the week that lies ahead. As we begin this week on a day that reminds us that our Lord and Savior is risen.
[7:01] And a reminder to us that we rest in him. May he equip us and set us up, Lord, for going back into our workspaces and into our homes and into our communities in the week ahead.
[7:15] That we will be salt and light in all that we do. We do pray for your ongoing work here in our midst and throughout your kingdom, Lord.
[7:25] We thank you that you are building your church and that you are calling your people to yourself. That there is that irresistible grace that you show towards your people.
[7:38] We thank you for evidence of how you are working, how you are speaking, how you are ministering. How we see a people coming from darkness to light.
[7:48] How we see desires being changed from longing for the things of this world to instead be longing for you and for your kingdom. And so we pray that by your spirit you will work among us.
[8:02] Among young and old alike. That we will experience your precious grace and your steadfast love. May you bless the youth fellowship as they meet this evening.
[8:12] We thank you that as they resume after the holiday period that you will be with them in it. Remember our young people just now as they sit exams. As prelims go on, have gone on this past week and go on in the week ahead.
[8:27] May you encourage and strengthen all our young people as they prepare for exams and as they sit them. Be with them in it, Lord, and help them to be able to call upon you for help.
[8:39] To be able to pray over these things, recognizing the help that you are able to give. So help them to lean upon you and look to you. Help us as a people, Lord, in all that we do to encourage and remember one another.
[8:55] We thank you, Lord, that your grace is sufficient in all experience in life. And we do pray your grace towards those who need it in special ways. Those who grieve over the loss of loved ones as we continue to remember that in recent days and in days gone past, Lord.
[9:15] That you will comfort, that you will uphold, that you will be a shield and a strength to those who need you in that particular way. Remember those who are unwell, those who are in hospital, those who are confined to their homes.
[9:28] We pray, Lord, that you will draw near to them where they are, that you will encourage and strengthen your people as they have need of you. We know, Lord, that there are times when what is important is your will.
[9:44] And we pray, Lord, that you must be heard in the morning service, that your will be what we pray for. No matter what goes on in our experience, Lord, help us to be settled with it.
[9:59] And to be settled, Lord, to say your will be done in all things. We remember, Lord, our wider communities at this time as well.
[10:09] And as we see an appeal for help to support Muriel Gillis in Lox at this time, we pray for that situation. We thank you, Lord, for her safety above all that she was able to get out of her home before the fire took hold.
[10:28] But when we see the devastation and the loss it has brought, Lord, we pray for her, for her family as well, and for the community there too. We thank you, Lord, for those who have surrounded her with love and care and compassion.
[10:43] And we pray, Lord, to remember her in every way we can, prayerfully and practically. And we know others in need too as well, Lord. And we pray for every ongoing effort of your gospel work in our midst to reach out to people in need, those who are lonely, those who are isolated in different ways, those who are struggling with many different issues.
[11:06] We pray, Lord, that you will help us to be good neighbors to those around us, loving them, caring for them, having compassion upon them.
[11:16] That as we love you with all our heart, we'll be enabled more and more to love our neighbor as ourselves. We pray for your kingdom to come in power throughout our land, throughout all authorities over us, Lord.
[11:32] We pray that you will minister to the rulers from on high, on kings and prime ministers and first ministers, presidents throughout our world, and those in positions of authority and power.
[11:45] Lord, give wisdom, Lord, give due diligence to them that they would seek you with all their heart, that they would rule us according to your truth. Lord, we ask it, looking to you to intervene in these days, to come and guide our nations, to guide us to yourself, to restore the lands of this world, to be a people who would honor you with praise on their lips.
[12:11] Remember, you're persecuted people throughout the world. We know there are many and in many places throughout the world. And even in these last few weeks, the watch list has been produced by Open Doors, reminding us, Lord, of the persecution that goes on in so many dark places in the world.
[12:31] But yet we thank you that you have your people there. We thank you that there are those who are persecuted. For it reminds us, Lord, that there are people who will stand up for you, who will honor your name, who will not be turned away.
[12:46] And so we pray for them, Lord. Stand with them. Be near to them. Build your church in these places that through their suffering, glory may come.
[12:56] And that people would turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. So continue with us. We pray, hear us, and go before us in all that we do and all that we say. As we ask all things for the forgiveness of our sins.
[13:10] In Jesus' name. Amen. Let us again sing to God's praise this time in Psalm 36 in the Scottish Psalter, page 251.
[13:22] Psalm 36 on page 251. We're going to sing from verse 5 to verse 10.
[13:34] The tune is London New. Thy mercy, Lord, is in the heavens. Thy truth does reach the clouds. Thy justice is like mountains great. Thy judgments deep as floods.
[13:45] We'll sing from verse 5 down to verse 10 to God's praise. Thy mercy, Lord, is in the heavens.
[13:59] Thy truth does reach the clouds. Thy justice is like mountains great.
[14:15] Thy judgments deep as floods. Lord, the peace, heaven, and peace.
[14:30] How precious is thy grace. Therefore, in shadow of thy ways, Your lips, my customers suffer from his heart.
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[15:04] Thy gifts, Oitas, the Schön CoronaQuéboy, O sex, 3 to the Pods, the hatred... Health, the Spirit, O thingsusta, farleb land for Juliet, Or the patiently of peace. His metalk dafür those fruit andua seed to go to come.
[15:15] Will drink to them provide Because of life the fountaine girl Recapes alone within And in the purest light of thine We weary life shall see Thy loving kindness up to them Continue that we know And still on earth now bright in light
[16:15] Thy righteousness be so We're going to read together in the letter of Paul to Titus.
[16:33] Titus chapter 2. We can read the whole of this chapter together. Titus chapter 2. Reading the whole of this chapter. Titus chapter 2. But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.
[16:54] Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine.
[17:10] They are to teach what is good and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
[17:27] Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works and in your teachings show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.
[17:49] Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything. They are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God, our Saviour.
[18:06] For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
[18:46] Declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you. Amen. And may God bless that reading from his word.
[19:01] We're going to sing again to God's praise, this time in Psalm 145, the first version of the Psalm in the Scottish Psalter, singing at verse 15, and the tune is Effingham, verse 15 down to the end of the Psalm, verse 21.
[19:21] The eyes of all things wait on thee, the giver of all good, and thou in time convenient, bestowst on them their food. We'll sing from verse 15 to 21, to God's praise.
[19:35] The eyes of all things wait on thee, the giver of all good, and thou in time convenient, and thou in time convenient, his souls not end their food.
[20:09] Than thou in timeuds on thee, thy hand And of thy body is Enough to satisfy the need Of everything that is The Lord is just in all his ways Only in his works all Of spirit to all that call him In truth that all him call
[21:13] He will accomplish the design Of those that do him fear He also will deliver them And he their pride will hear The Lord presents all good in love That not can them annoy But he of those that may be there Will after me destroy
[22:16] By might the graces of the Lord To publish sins shall never Let all flesh bless his holy pain Forever and forever Now if we can turn back to our reading In the letter of Paul to Titus chapter 2 And we're going to look this evening At the end of the chapter Verse 11 to verse 15 Verse 11 says For the grace of God has appeared Bringing salvation for all people
[23:19] And so it goes on The grace of God has appeared There are many big words When we come to study the Bible Or when we come to study theology Theology is the study of God And as you study You find that people use When you look at books of theology They use quite big words And sometimes it's hard To get your tongue around them Never mind get your mind Around what some of these words Actually mean But it's important for us To delve into these important words But sometimes it's the little words That are just as important And sometimes it's the little words That can have a very powerful impact on us So as we hear the word of God being read Or as we study God's word There's little words that sometimes appear And they appear very powerfully Little words often speak to us
[24:20] About a battle that is always ongoing So when you look at the Bible And you go maybe to the very beginning of the Bible The opening words of the Bible say In the beginning God Now God isn't a big word in and of itself But it's a huge word In terms of our thinking Of everything that we see around us And as we look at ourselves And as we look at theology as a whole It is the study of God Who he is And what he's done And when you read through the beginning of the Bible And you see in the beginning God You see that he made all things But then it comes to the point where he says And he created man Male and female He created them So you go from one small word God That has such a big emphasis To then focus on the next thing Which we could think of is me Me Where do I fit into all of this Again it's just a small word me
[25:22] Two letters But again it's so important Where do I fit into the scheme of things With God And as you go on in Genesis You find something else happened And another word comes in Sin Again It's a very small word But such an important word To realize that sin Came into the world That this brought enmity Between us and God That there's this battle Going on So all of these small words Remind us of Our beginning Who we are And the problem That exists in this world Between us And knowing God As we should But then God shows us Another couple of words That help us to understand How we can come back to him Two small words We're going to focus on One of them this evening The first one Is faith
[26:23] God speaks of faith It's not a big word again But such an important word To have faith In God But where does faith Come from Well it comes from the word That we're going to study This evening Grace The grace of God That ministers to us And the grace of God Grace is again It's a small word But it's so important And it's packed with so much Grace of God Is a subject We could spend Our whole lives Studying And still never get past The wonder of this That God showed grace At all We don't deserve it But that is what grace is It's a gift A gift Of God We can never Tire of hearing of it That despite our sinful hearts Despite what sin has done To me That God has shown grace
[27:23] He's shown mercy Towards us So that God by his grace Does not desire that Any be lost But instead that All would come And find salvation All would know his grace And come to faith In the Lord Jesus Christ Every sermon preached From the gospel Has the grace of God in it Because that is what the gospel is It is the good news Of a gracious God And so this grace Is vital for us God's grace is seen Throughout the scriptures And it's seen In different ways It's shown In different ways Example In Exodus When Moses Is shown The grace of God In Exodus 34 Verse 6 It says The Lord passed Before him And proclaimed The Lord The Lord A God Merciful And gracious
[28:24] Slow to anger And abounding In steadfast love And faithfulness A description Of who God is This wonder of God The Lord The Lord A God Merciful And gracious Slow to anger Moses was reminded of it And reminds us of it You see there God's grace and favor You see his grace In more general ways As well Where he leaves No one Without He leaves everyone Without excuse A grace called Common grace Grace shown To everyone For example In Acts 14 Verse 17 It says Yet he has not Left himself Without testimony He has shown Kindness Or grace By giving you Rain from heaven And crops In their seasons He provides you With plenty of food And fills your hearts With joy He shows this Common grace
[29:24] To all But yet people Don't see it But I want us This evening To think of The grace of God That leads to Salvation His special Grace His grace That he shows Through giving His son The Lord Jesus Christ It's a grace Not merited By us But a grace That gives us Salvation Through faith In the Lord Jesus Christ How would you Describe This grace Have you Experienced This grace Yourself How would you Explain This grace To others So often It's hard For us To put in words But we can often Come back To the fact That grace Is something We don't Deserve But it is A gift From God And so I want us
[30:24] To think of This grace As we see it In these verses Before us This evening Verse 11 Through to Verse 15 And three things That we see Of this grace Here It's a grace First of all That has appeared To all It sees It's a grace That trains us Or teaches us And it's a grace That gives us Patience To wait Upon the Lord So these three Things we're going To look at This evening First of all The grace It says In verse 11 For the grace Of God Has appeared Bringing salvation For all people God's grace Fills so much Of Paul's Teaching Through his letters So as you read Through the New Testament You find again And again Paul speaking Of the wonder Of this grace How special This grace is How we all need To know And experience This grace For ourselves
[31:25] To know This great gift Of eternal life Through God Here in the letter To Titus As he's writing To encourage Titus In the midst Of different trials And tribulations That he's facing Up to himself He gives this Reminder to him And to all Who are with him The grace Of God Has appeared Bringing salvation And the way You find Paul Dealing with grace So often In his letters Is he teaches us About it What it means The teaching Behind it The theology If you like Behind it But he doesn't Just leave it at that He also Often he puts it Then Into how we put it Into practice How we live it Out in our lives How we experience it How we grow in it How we go on In it He teaches the foundations Of what's behind it But then he says You're to live Through it
[32:26] How to live And how to know it And so The same is Is true For ourselves Today as well To know this Grace of God To delve into God's word And to seek To understand More of the Wonder of this Grace And the more We know it The more we Should seek To live It out You see it Even in these Verses Verse 11 Through to Verse 14 He tells us This grace of God Has appeared Bringing salvation Well what does That mean Well as you go on He shows us That this grace Trains us To turn away From ungodliness And worldly passions To live Self-controlled Waiting For the blessed hope The appearing Of and glory Of our great God And Saviour Jesus Christ There's so much Already in this That the Lord Has come as A saving work To be done For us
[33:26] That he is One who takes Control of our lives That we await His appearing His return The day of the Resurrection He gave himself To redeem us So there's so much Here already So there's Teaching behind it all But then he says At the end Of verse 14 He gave himself To redeem us From all unlawless To purify himself A people For his own possession Who are Sealous For good works So these are Going to be A people Who know And understand All that the Lord has done In salvation And redemption In purchasing them That they would be Sealous For good works That they would Serve the Lord With all their heart So God Has appeared To remind us Of the salvation For all people Through Jesus Christ Just like Paul
[34:28] Teaches us In Ephesians 2 That we were Dead in our Trespasses and sins But by his grace And mercy Made alive In Christ And this is By grace Through faith Not of works Lest we boast So again We come back It says here Sell us for good works Not to boast In them But to do them Because of what He has done For us Romans 5 Again Such a wonderful book So much teaching There to us Of who God is And the riches Of his grace But turns again To often Practical things As well In chapter 5 Though it says In verse 10 For if When we were God's enemies We were reconciled To him Through the death Of his son How much more Having been reconciled Shall we be saved Through his life So we were enemies But by his grace We are saved
[35:28] And so how much more Shall we be saved Through his life So Paul is here Writing to Titus And to his people There To say The grace of God Has appeared Bringing salvation For all The wonder Of this grace And what did it mean For them Well the people He was writing to They would have Recognized the word Grace They would have Been familiar With it Charis In the Greek They would have Been hearing this word And they would have Recognized what it means It means Doing a favor Doing good For another person But the crux of it was You do good For another person Not expecting Something in return But for them It was always done To friends To people Who they didn't mind Doing good for They wouldn't expect Anything back They weren't looking For anything back They were doing Them a good turn Not expecting Anything back
[36:29] But they were people They loved And they cared for Well Christ brings A richer depth To this grace To this charis He gives it a far Richer meaning Because what he did At Calvary As we were reminded There in that reading In Romans Was for those Who were enemies Those who despised Those who rejected Him He showed favor He showed grace Towards them And this grace That has been revealed Is extraordinary It goes beyond Anything else Anyone has seen To this point There's a fullness There's a richness To them And they're thinking To themselves But how can this be Well it's the wonder Of the grace of God Bringing salvation For all people For anyone Who will come to him Anyone who will bow
[37:30] The knee To the Lord This grace is there For them And you noticed In our reading Of this chapter Verse 1 Through to verse 10 It's speaking To all the different Kinds of people In that day To men Young and old To women Young and old To slaves To everyone This is speaking To all groups Of society To all who will Receive it To all who will Listen This grace Has been revealed It's appeared Bringing salvation To all people So this grace Is for all Who will listen Grace does not Class people As worthy And unworthy Because of status Or anything else Grace has appeared To all And it is A saving grace There's nothing We can add To this grace There's nothing We can do
[38:30] To earn this grace We are to receive it By faith It is what has been Done for us At the cross Bringing salvation For all people Because of the one As it says In verse 14 Who gave himself For us To redeem us From all unlawlessness It is grace Through Christ's works So how thankful Are we For this grace Do you know This grace For yourself Do you long For this grace Yourself Well it's not To earn it Not to work For it But to come And see it In the person Of Jesus Christ And to put your Trust In him And then as We think of Putting our Trust in him As we're called To put our Trust in the Grace of God This grace
[39:30] Then teaches us This grace Teaches us And keeps us Going And you see that In verse 12 Training us Teaching us To renounce Ungodliness And worldly passions And live Self-controlled Upright And godly lives In the present age And again you link That into the end Of verse 14 A people For his own Possession Sell us For good works So you turn Away by grace From ungodliness Worldly passions All of these things And instead now Sell us For good works Sell us to do The things Of God Jesus saved us Not only That we would Belong to him But that we would Live Like we belong To him That's how Somebody once Put it
[40:30] That we'd Belonged Not only Just belong To him But also We would Live Like we Belong to him And that Convicts us Every one of us I'm sure Who believe In the Lord Jesus Christ Who belong To him Do we live Like we belong To him Do we show That in our lives In how we speak In how we conduct Ourselves In everything That we do Are we showing Us Not just That we belong To him But that we Live Like we belong To him Are we growing In grace Is what is Behind this Because grace Isn't just Coming to that Conversion point Grace is going On In his strength Grace is going Forward In his strength Learning Being trained Being taught To renounce Ungodliness To turn away From it And worldly Passions
[41:31] And to live Self-controlled Upright And godly Lives For us to say Hands up Who lives Like that I doubt If any Hand Would go Up Because we Don't By nature We don't We still Feel Like we're Ungodly And caught up In worldly Passions So often And this Is the key Where grace Comes in Because grace Is what Teaches us And trains Us To renounce These things And to live In that Right way And so We should Long For this To learn To plead With god And to go On in his Strength And perhaps We remember Just what it Was like To live In sin Maybe we're Experiencing These days Just now When we're Struggling In so many Ways The days Like what Paul speaks To the
[42:31] Ephesians Of when you Were dead In your Trespasses And sins And these Things can So easily Seek to Cling on To us Still Days when Sin Was winning The battle Days when God seemed Just so Far away Sin had No meaning Because sin Was normal Sin was Just the Way we Lived But what Changes Grace It is grace That changes Our attitudes Grace that Changes our Sinful desires So that no Longer Do we see These things As normal And just what We do by Nature But we Recognize This is not Right This is not How I want To live My life This is not The way I want To be It is grace That opens Our eyes This irresistible Grace That we
[43:32] Hear of This grace That comes From God That begins To open Our hearts To his word This grace That opens Our eyes To see All that is Wrong In our way Of life And begins To show Us Our need Of Christ And begins To open Our hearts To receive By faith His grace It is grace That teaches Grace That trains But to have That we have To allow This grace Into our lives To long For it To ask The Lord For it There is a Story told Of a young Girl who Had come To faith She believed With all her Heart in the Lord Jesus Christ And just like We do Ourselves The time Came when She was Going to Come For membership In our church And to do So she was Going to Appear Before the Kirk session And she
[44:32] Came To the Kirk session And as Is her Way as Well some Questions were Asked of Her One of the Questions She was Asked was This Were you A sinner Before you Came to Faith in The Lord Jesus Christ Yes sir She replied And then The elder Went on to Ask her Well are You still A sinner To tell you The truth She said I feel I'm a Greater Sinner Than ever So the elder Then asked Another question Then what Real change Have you Experienced And this Is the way She put it I don't Quite know How to Explain it She said Except I used To be A sinner Running After sin But now That I'm Saved I'm a Sinner Running Away From sin
[45:32] The change Is there Before us She used To be a Sinner Running After sin And how Many of Us Were Or even Maybe are In that Situation Sinner Just living For sin But now When we Come by Grace to Know salvation In Christ Jesus We're a Sinner Running From sin Sin Still Cling Sin Sin Stills Battles For us But we As it Says here Seek to Renounce Godliness And worldly Passions Through this Grace Grace Teaches Us That we Should be Eager To do Good Eager To live For Christ So this is Grace That we Need This grace To teach Us In all Of these Things The final Thing that We see Here is
[46:33] This grace Gives us Patience To live And to Wait For the Lord And you See that In verse 13 Waiting For our Blessed Hope The appearing Of the Glory Of our Great God And Savior Jesus Christ So Verse 13 Reminds us That in our Grace as we Live in this World Grace Has so much More to Give us Yet That we Await The return The appearing Of the glory Of our Great God And Savior Jesus Christ As James Is studying In the Sunday Evenings The resurrection This ties Into what We've been Hearing from That study How he Is going To come How he Is going To reveal Himself To us How we Are going To see Grace Fulfilled And grace Fulfilled For ourselves
[47:33] So His Glorious Appearing Has this Sense It could Be At Any Time He could Come At Any Time And again That challenges Us Are we Ready Are we Ready For the Glorious Appearing Of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Are we Living Like we Belong To him Are we Living For him There was Once a Tourist Who was In Italy And they Went to Visit This Large Estate That had Beautiful Gardens And these Gardens Were well Kept By a Gardener One Gardener Looking after It all A Caretaker And the Tourist Came to The Caretaker And asked How long Have you Been working Here 25 years Said the Caretaker And they Asked how Often has
[48:34] The owner Been to the Estate And all Your Time Here Four Times The Caretaker Said And when Was the Last time That the Owner Came to See his Estate Twelve Years Ago The Gardener Replied Who Comes Then To Look After These Things When The Owner Is Not Here He Said Well I'm Pretty Left Much Left To Get On With By Myself I Said Well Yet You Keep This Garden So Spick And Span That You May Think You're Expecting The Owner To Come Tomorrow Today Replied The Gardener Today Didn't Matter That the Owner Hadn't Been For Twelve Years He Knew He Could Come Anytime And So He Kept The Place As If He Would Come Today Is That The Way We Live A Life Of Grace Are
[49:34] We Expecting Anticipating The Lord's Return Anytime Even Today Even This Evening If He Were To Come Today If This Was The Great And Final Day Of The Resurrection Where Is Your Hope Where Is Your Confidence Is It In The One Who Paul Says Here In Verse Thirteen The One Who Gave Himself Our Great God And Saviour Jesus Christ Who Gave Himself For For Us He Showed Us This Wonderful Grace Do You Know This Grace Yourself When we Think Back To What We Started With The Small Words And The Battles
[50:35] That Go On How God Made Us How We See Ourselves In This World And How Sin Has Come In And Seeks To Devour Us On A Daily Basis But In The Midst Of This Battle Is Grace It Is Grace That We Need It Is Grace That Gives Us Victory Going Back To Romans 5 Verse 20 It Is It Says But Where Sin Abounded Grace Did Much More Abound In The Midst Of The Battle When Sin Is Abounding Grace Did Much More Abound Do You Remember Every Time God Has Given You His Grace You May Remember Certain Experiences Of His Grace Certain Times Where
[51:35] You Say But By His Grace I Wouldn't Have Gone Through That But Do You Remember Every Time His Grace Has Helped You It's Probably Impossible Because There's There's Probably Even Times We Didn't Realize It Was The Grace Of God The Things That Were Hidden From Us The Things That Were Kept From Us Apart From God's Grace Where Would We Be There Is A Story Told Of A Minister Many Years Ago He Was Out Walking By A Stream And As He Was Walking Along The Stream He Came Across A Woman Who Was Was Washing Wool And She Was Washing The Wool By Putting It Into A Large Sieve And Dipping The Wool In And Out Of The Stream Until The Wool Was Cleaned And He Stopped
[52:35] For A While To Watch The Woman Doing This And Then He Spoke With Her For A Time Seeing What She Was Doing As He Spoke With Her He Asked If She Knew Who He Was And She Said To Him Oh Yes I Know Who You Are And I Am So Eternally Thankful To God For A Sermon That You Once Preached That Helped Me So Much The Minister Was So Pleased To Hear That A Service He Preached That Had Such An Effect And He Asked Do You Remember The Subject That I Preached Oh Well Sir No I Don't Actually Remember What You Preached And Of Course Like Most Ministers Would Be He Was A Little Deflated By This That She Didn't Remember What The Service Was About And He Said To How Then Can
[53:35] You Remember That It Did You Good If You Don't Remember What The Subject Was Well Sir She Said My Mind Is Like This Civ It Does Not Hold The Water Back But As The Water Goes Through It Cleans The Wool So Is So Is My Memory Like This It Doesn't Retain All The Words I Hear But As They Pass Through My Heart By God's Grace It Cleanses It And That's The Grace Of God's Word We Don't Always Remember Every Moment Of God's Grace And Every Experience Of God's Grace But It's God's Grace Again And Again And Again That Keeps Us That Sustains Us That Keeps Us Going This
[54:36] Grace Is A Wonderful Thing It Is A Grace That Has Appeared Bringing Salvation For All So Do You Know The Salvation Of This Grace If You Don't Come And Seek The Lord's Grace Plead With Him With All Your Heart To Know This Grace And If You Know And As You Know This Grace Seek To Grow By This Grace Renouncing Ungodliness And Worldly Passions And Then As You Do So Remember We Wait By Grace The Return Of The Lord Jesus But As We Wait He Gives His Word By His Grace That Cleanses Our Hearts Again And Again And Again It Is This Grace That Keeps And His Grace That Sustains And May We Know The Blessing Of This Grace Day
[55:36] Day Day Let Let Us Pray Our Father In Heaven We Thank You That You Are A God Who Remembers Us In All Our Needs And Provides A Grace All Sufficient For All Our Needs And We Pray Lord To Know This Grace More And More Abundantly In Our Hearts In Our Souls And In Our Lives And In Our Communities As We Ask It All Looking To Our Lord For Our Sins In Jesus Name Amen We're Going To Conclude By Singing To God's Praise In Psalm 8 Psalm 8 And The Sing Psalms On Page 8 Of The Psalm Books We'll Sing From Verse 3 When I Regard The Heavens You Made Your Fingers Work I
[56:36] Trace I See The Moon And Shining Stars Which You Have Set In Place I Ask Myself What Then Is Man That Thou That You Should Give Him Thought The Son Of Man That You To Him Such Gracious Care Have Brought We'll Sing From Verse 3 To The End Of The Psalm To God's Praise Amen l South S bay And State I See The Moon and shining stars which you have set in place.
[57:35] I ask myself, what endless man that you should give him thought the sorrow of man that you should give such gracious gift of God?
[58:11] You made him little less than those who dwell in heaven above, and you have crowned and honoured him with glory and with love.
[58:45] You gave him charge upon the Lord, created by your hand, and everything that you had given, you gave him to command.
[59:21] All flocks and gerts and birds and fish of each of the world and day in all the air, O Lord our Lord, our glorious is your name.
[59:56] I'll go to the door to my right this evening. Let's close with the benediction. Now may grace, mercy, and peace from God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest upon and abide with you all now and forevermore.
[60:13] Amen. Amen. Amen.