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[0:00] I extend a very warm welcome to everybody this morning on behalf of Stornoway Free Church and we pray that we will know God's blessing as we seek to worship God and that we will know his presence and peace wherever we are as we gather before him today.

[0:17] We're going to begin our service by reading from Psalm 25 and this is in Sing Psalm, Psalm number 25 and we're going to read verses 4 to 11.

[0:27] Sing Psalms, Psalm 25 Remember me in your great love For you, O Lord, are good always Because the Lord is just and good He shows his paths to all who stray He guides the meek in what is right And teaches them his holy way To those who keep his covenant laws He shows his love consistently For your name's sake, O Lord, my God Forgive my great iniquity Let us pray

[1:28] Lord, as we come before you today We echo the words of the psalmist And we ask, Lord, that you will indeed show us your ways Show me thy ways, O Lord Thy paths, O teach thou me That's what the psalmist said And we will say the very same thing Because we have to confess, Lord, that we do not know the right way to go And we have not the ability On ourselves to make the right choices and the right decisions And so often in life as we come to all the varied situations in life Your word is there to direct us And the principles are there But so often we forget these things Or sometimes we have to confess that we choose not to follow them And we ask you to forgive us But we pray, Lord, that in all our lives That you will direct us in the right way to go You have said, I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you shall go

[2:29] I will guide you with mine eye And we pray that that guiding eye of God may be upon us And that you will help us make the right decisions Decisions which are ultimately for the glory of God And decisions which would be good for us as well And good for other people too Because so often what we do affects not only our own life personally But the lives of others Help us to remember that And help us always to have the big picture in view Because it's so easy to become very selfish and self-centred in that outlook And be preoccupied with just what concerns ourselves Help us then, Lord, to have this vision about us So that we will always be looking to you And seeking that our lives will be focused upon you And that this is the way that we will go So that we will know that as we walk with you And hopefully in communion with you And fellowship with you

[3:30] That we will know your blessing And your peace upon us And that we might be persuaded That the way that we're going is the right way We ask, Lord, to forgive us our sin When we go the wrong way And we have to confess, Lord, that far too often We do the wrong thing And we say the wrong thing Forgive us, Lord, for our attitude Sometimes to others Forgive us, Lord, for the way that we think About certain people Or the way we think about different situations Which we know are not right Forgive us, Lord, for the pride And the lusts of the flesh That are so often part and partial of our lives Help us to remember that That these lusts war against the soul But they are part and partial of who we are So it is a fight We are commanded to put to death these things And we know, Lord, what a struggle that is

[4:30] Have mercy upon us then, we pray We give thanks for all the encouragement That your word gives us And we are commanded so often to do According to you We are commanded all the time to do According to your law And we feel insufficient for these things But we give thanks, Lord That what you tell us to do You will also help us to do Through the ministry of your spirit And so we pray that we might know The spirit's guiding and leading And the spirit's strengthening And encouraging us in the faith Pray to bless every home and every family And all who are in need We give thanks, Lord That we can bring all our worries And sorrows and problems And even our joys And the great moments of our lives And these things that have brought so much Laughter and joy and happiness Into our lives We pray that we will give you thanks For all these things Recognising that you are the God Who gives to us And that every good and perfect gift

[5:31] Comes to us from above Pray then as we come under your word today That you will bless it to us That we will be taught of the Lord We pray, Lord That you will give us ears to hear And hearts to understand And minds that are ready to obey Help us in all our relationships One with another Whether it is ecclesiastical Regarding the church Or whether it is family Or whether it is at work Or in school Or in the community In the neighbourhood Wherever it is, Lord We pray that you will help us In all our relationships We pray, Lord That you will be with families Bless husbands and wives And we pray that you will encourage them And strengthen their relationships We pray for family For children For boys and girls We ask, Lord That you will help them As they grow up in life And that they will be Such that Indeed they are taught of the Lord We give thanks, Lord For virtual Sunday school And what great gifts and abilities

[6:32] Sunday school teachers have We give thanks for the opportunities That are given For the instruction of the young At home And we pray, Lord That this will be a blessing To the homes And we know, Lord That you are always a step ahead In fact, you are a lifetime ahead In fact, you are a world ahead But you are making preparation And that this is no accident The way that things are working out And we pray that the blessings That will come from this May indeed have lasting benefits In many of the homes We pray, Lord Then that you will be with our young people And particularly at such a difficult time for them Remember those At all the various stages Whether it is in childhood Or in going right up into the teen years And those who are maybe Finishing, looking at finishing school Or looking to go to other places of learning Or to follow trades Or move into occupation

[7:34] And it's so difficult just now The whole structure seems to be in standstill Or sometimes collapsing All as a result of this pandemic And oh Lord, oh God Have mercy upon us We pray that you will deliver us And protect us And may we see your hand Oh may our leaders see your hand In the deliverance So that we will not come to ruin Because it will be very easy Because it wouldn't take much To bring us even further and further down We give thanks for the development of the vaccine We pray that this will prove so effective And we pray that we will be brought back To a greater degree of normality Sooner rather than later We pray to bless all our staff NHS staff And all our carers And all who do so much To alleviate the illnesses and diseases And particularly with regard to the COVID And we pray Lord That you will bless all households and families

[8:36] That are struggling just now Through isolation and separation It is very, very difficult And we pray for all those Who are struggling with mental issues We ask Lord That you will indeed be with them And help them And be with those who sorrow and mourn Those who have lost loved ones And commit them to your care Bless our leadership In Holyrood And in Westminster And locally here in the council Oh Lord Guide in the right way Otherwise we're finished We need you We need your help We need your direction And so we ask your blessing upon us And that you will be merciful to us Cleanse us from our every sin We pray in Jesus name we ask it Amen Just a wee word To the young folk One of the things that Always happens to you As you grow up Is that you will fall Nobody sets out

[9:38] In a day to fall Unless of course you're A stuntman Or a rugby player Or a goalie Because if you're If you're somebody who plays rugby You will spend half your time Particularly if you're Going to score a try You fall down with the ball And if you're a stuntman Or stuntwoman It involves falling That's your job But normally For people We don't like To fall Now of course when you start Learning to walk You keep falling all the time And young people They are so You're kind of Really tough Because you You kind of Bounce back up And Most falls For young people Unless You end up Hitting something Or hitting your head Or something Which can be terrible A lot of the falls That young people have It's just Maybe just getting dirty Or maybe getting a few cuts Or bruises It's nothing too serious Sometimes there are serious falls But young people They fall all the time

[10:39] In fact If you're out And you see a young person falling You know If it's just a normal fall You don't think too much of it Because you say Well that's what happens With young people But when you see an older person fall You think Oh that's That's not so good Because the older we get The more dangerous it is When we fall And that's why Sometimes with Really elderly people When they fall And break their hip It can be seriously dangerous So Falling is Not a good thing And today in our service We're going to look at At this Whole thing of falling When I was young I was terrible For falling I was always falling And That was very simply Because I was always running And I was always rushing And I was often not looking Where I was going And so So often I would trip Because I I didn't just run I went full pelt I was always dashing And I remember My parents

[11:39] Mum and Dad Used to be Slow down Look where you're going And What I do remember When I was a boy Is my knees And legs Were always dirty Always cut There was always blood And there was always mud On my knees And on my legs And I used to get roused For that Because my trousers Would be dirty And everything Now when When we were young Everybody wore short trousers Till you went to secondary school So right through primary There was no boy With what Everybody Now these Wears the wrong trousers They were just short Short trousers That's We all wore Where we went But You're not going to believe this But When I went Started in secondary school I was still in short trousers And there was only one other boy Donnie Big Donnie McLeod Donnie Big Who was in short trousers as well And my mum said

[12:39] You are not going to get long trousers Till you learn to walk And stop falling Because You You You will rip your Knees to shreds In no time With With long trousers So this was to get me to To Slow down And to To walk carefully But I hated it Because I still remember Starting secondary school And I was the only person I parted on this Boy Donnie Big The two of us In short trousers And the whole of secondary And it stuck with In fact It's quite funny I hadn't seen Donnie Big For years and years and years Because Donnie When he finished school He went to sea He went deep sea And he was sailing All over the world I haven't seen him For years and years And When I was studying For the ministry in Edinburgh I bumped into him On Princess Street One day I says Donnie Big I haven't seen you for ages We were asking each other What we were doing And he was an officer At sea He had done well And we were chatting How in And he says Do you remember

[13:40] Do you remember We were the only two boys In the secondary school In short trousers And I said You bet I remember So it was something That stuck with both of us And I remember Saying to my mum Please And they said Until you learn to walk Because we can't afford To be buying new trousers All the time You're just going to rip them So I then had to start Clang And it wasn't long Of course Until when I did get The long trousers It wasn't long Until I had to have Patches on them Because I was falling And that was very simply Because I was careless I was Looking back I was really Really careless And I'm sure That's true for Lots of boys And girls Often We're careless In the way That we walk But you know God Wants us To walk with him Because when you go Through the Bible You will find this So often That God Wants us to walk

[14:40] That we are to walk With God And God Wants us to walk With him Carefully And when we're Following God As we've been Talking about That Previously About the importance Of following the Lord When we follow the Lord We have to follow him Carefully One of Jesus' Disciples Who really loved Jesus Was a man We all know Of Peter But Peter Was somebody Who was always Rushing as well Peter was somebody Who was careless Or he didn't stop To think Before he did something And he didn't stop To think Before he said something And sometimes That got Peter Into problems And the worst Thing that ever Happened in Peter's life Was he Ended up Denying the Lord Jesus Because he Wasn't walking Properly with Jesus It tells us That he was Walking far

[15:41] Behind Hadn't stopped Following Jesus Altogether But he was Following Wee Wee Wee Wee Behind And the Problem What happened Then was Because he Was following Jesus From so far Back He came Into a Problem And he Denied Jesus Terribly By saying I don't Know Jesus Means Nothing To me I don't Follow Jesus And Jesus Wasn't there And Jesus Turned And looked At Peter What a Look And you Know what Tells us That Peter Heart Was Broken And he Went out And he Wept He cried So bitterly Because he Had denied Jesus Who he Really Loved But that Came about Because he Wasn't Following Jesus Properly And Jesus Wants us To follow Him And to Walk Properly We're Told to Walk Humbly With your

[16:42] God And that Means that We walk In a way Where we Keep in Step With him And that That means All the time That we're Looking to Him To help Us And to Guide us And to Protect us And to Teach us And to Forgive us And to be With us So that All the time We're Saying Lord Jesus Help me To walk With you In the Right way Lord Help me To walk Carefully With you And do you Notice if You walk Carefully With the Lord It's the Most wonderful Way to Go through This world Because your Hand Will be in The hand Of Jesus When you Walk with Jesus You don't Walk ahead Of him When you Walk with Jesus You don't Walk way Behind like Peter did You walk With him Side by Side It's the Most wonderful Way to Walk And when

[17:42] You walk That way Through this World Your life Will be Filled With the Blessings Of God Let's Say the Lord's Prayer Our Father Which art In Heaven Hallowed Be thy Name Thy Kingdom Come Thy Will Be Done On Earth As It is In Heaven Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread And Forgive Us Our Debts As We Forgive Our Debtors And Lead Us Not Into Temptation But Deliver Us From Evil For Thine Is The Kingdom The Power And The Glory Forever Amen We're Going to Read God's Word Now In The Book Of Psalms In Psalm Number 37 We're Going to Read From The Beginning Psalm To The End Of Verse 26 Psalm 37 Fret Not Yourself Because Of Evil Doers Be Not Envious Or Wrong Doers For They Will Soon Fade Like The Grass And Wither Like The Green Head Trust In The Lord And Do Good Dwell

[18:42] In The Land And Befriend Faithfulness Delight Yourself In The Lord And He Will Give You The Desires Of Your Heart Commit Your Way To The Lord Trust In Him And He Will Act He Will Bring Forth Your Righteousness As A Light And Your Justice As An Day Be Still Before The Lord And Wait Patiently For Him Fret Not Yourself Over The One Who Prospers In His Way Over The Man Who Carries Out Evil Devices Refrain From Anger And Forsake Wrath Fret Not Yourself It Tends For The Evil Doer Shall Be Cut Off But Those Who Wait For The Lord Shall Inherit The Land In Just A Little While The Wicked Will Be No More Though You Look Carefully At His Place He Will Not Be There But The Meek Will Inherit The Land And Delight Themselves In Abundant Peace The Wicked Plots Against

[19:43] The Righteous And Knashes His Teeth At Him The Lord Laughs At The Wicked For He Sees That His Day Is Coming The Wicked Draw The Wicked Draw The Sword And Bend Their Bowes To Bring Down The Poor And Needy To Slay Those Whose Way Is Upright Their Sword Shall Enter Their Own Heart And Their Bowes Shall Be Broken Better Is The Little That The Righteous Has Than The Abundance Of Many Wicked For The Arms Of The Wicked Shall Be Broken But The Lord Upholds The Righteous The Lord Knows The Days Of The Blameless And Their Heritage Will Remain Forever They Are Not Put To Shame In Evil Times In The Days Of Famine They Have Abundance But The Wicked Will Perish The Enemies Of The Lord Are Like The Glory Of The Pastures They Vanish Like Smoke They Vanish Away The Wicked Borrows But Does Not Pay Back But

[20:43] The Righteous Is Generous And Gives For Those Blessed By The Lord Shall Inherit The Land But Those Cursed By Him Shall Be Cut Off The Steps Of A Man Are Established By The Lord When He Delights In His Way Though He Lord Upholds His Hand I Have Been Young And Now I Am Old Yet I Have Not Seen The Righteous Forsaken But His Children Begging For Bread He Is Ever Lending Generously And His Children Become A Blessing Amen And God Bless To Us This Reading Of His Own Holy Word This Morning I Want Us To Consider The Verses 23 And 24 Of Psalm 37 The Steps Of A Man Are Established By The Lord When He Delights In His Way Though He Fall He Shall Not Be Cast Headlong For The Lord Upholds His Hand It

[21:44] Would Be A Very Interesting Statistic To See Just How Many People Fall In A Day I Am Sure It Is Not Just Hundreds And I Am Sure It Is Not Just Thousands But I Am Sure It Is Hundreds Of Thousands And As We Saying To The Young People Nobody Sets Out To Fall Unless You Are A Stunt Man Or Woman Or A Rugby Player Or A Goalie Or Something Like That Who Is Always Throwing Themselves Around On The Ground And Falling Of Course Is A Natural Part Of Growing Up But It Becomes Quite A Serious Thing The Older We Get And All These Things As We Look At It Are Equally True Spiritually Because When A Young Person Is Beginning To Walk Learning To Walk They're Prone To Falling You'll Never Find A Toddler Who's Gone Through All Their Toddling Stages And They've Never Fall And I Would Say It's Also True

[22:45] That When Young People Come To Faith In The Lord Jesus Christ Or When Any Person Comes To Faith And They're Young In The Faith When Any Person Comes To They're Young In The Faith We Have To Give Young People Or Young Christians And When I Mean Young Christians At Any More Leeway Because You Would Never Come Down Like A Ton Of Bricks And A Toddler Who Would Fall And Say Oh Who Cares Yeah Why And We Have To Be Tender And Patient And Careful And Help And Encourage Young Christians Or Those Who Are Young In The Faith When They Start Out Because It's A Whole New Life And So We Should Be Aware Of These Things And Be Alert And Careful For Those Who Are Young In The Faith But Of Course Similarly

[23:45] When A Person Is Older Then The Falls Tend To Be More Spectacular And More Noticeable Because You Don't Really Notice Young People Or You're Not So Aware Unless It's A Really Serious Fall But When A Middle Aged Or A Mature Person Falls Or An Elderly Person Falls It's Much More Noticeable It's In Some Ways Much More Spectacular And Much More Serious And That Is True In The Christian Life As Well Because It's Always Sadder Because There Seems To Be More Implications When A More Mature Or An Older Christian Falls It's Often More Noticeable That The Likes Of David In His Life Because It Wasn't As A Young Christian That David Fell So Badly But As A Seasoned Mature Christian And That Is What Made It All The More Glaring All The More Powerful And All The Sadder

[24:46] Really About It All Now When David Penned This Psalm It Tells Us That He Was An Old Man That's What It Tells Us In Verse 25 I Have Been Young But Now I Am Old And David Of Course Knew All About Falling In The Later Years Or In The Maturity Years Of Life And You Know It's Always Important To Listen To Those Who Have A Wealth Of Experience And I Would Say Particularly To The Younger Folk Listen To The Voice Of Maturity Listen To The Voice Of Experience Because Those Who Have Lived The Life For Many Years They Have The Knocks They Have Been Through So Many Of The Experiences That You Yet To Go Through And They Will Help You So Much Particularly In Your Christian Life It's So Important To Listen To The Voice Of Experience Now I

[25:46] Know We Live In A Changing World And Life Used To Change slide Gonna Today Ito Way Twice I Have Had applкивあります With människor And To The One Thing T I growing sense of intolerance because we live in a multicultural society and there should be a greater level of tolerance but unfortunately the day we're living in there's less and less tolerance and I feel that that comes the more that we reject the Lord the more intolerant a society will become because at the very heart of the Christian faith is to love our neighbour as ourselves and if we love our neighbour as ourselves we will be much more tolerant and the growing intolerance I believe is a reflection of how we are turning away from the Christian principles that have so often governed and held up the structure of our nation now I think I've said this before and I know I have but when I was a young teenager I was like I suppose a lot of young teenagers I thought the older generation were dinosaurs and what did they know and that I suppose is part of the excitement and just the way that the youth is and I remember thinking that of my father and I used to see him really as a dinosaur and what did he know about our culture and our way and our life and his life was a different kind of life and I had I must confess that at that particular point in my life I had this it wasn't just my dad but the whole generation that's the way I thought and I joined in with the song of the age talking of my generations my generation now but one day my visitor was in and I overheard them talking and this was an old seaman who had sailed with my father during the war in the destroyers and they were talking they were going through some of the wartime experience that they had shared he didn't often talk about that side of things I was I just heard them talking and they were talking about things and I thought whoa talking about things not only I had never experienced but I never would want to experience of going sometimes days with no food no sleep being bombed all the time mid-atlantic and I thought whoa and I remember at that very moment this understanding came over me I thought these guys know life in a way that not only I don't know I don't even want to know and I knew respect was born in me at that moment for the generation that I had kind of dismissed and that's why it's important that when we're young that we listen to those who have already gone before although cultures change and our generational there should be generation gaps and all these kind of things always remember the voice of experience you can't replace that it's it's it's priceless and that's why here's david and he says i've been i've been i've been young but now i'm old and that's why it's always worthwhile listening to somebody mature and somebody who has so much experience and david tells us here that the steps of a man are established by the lord and of course he's speaking here about about the christian because that's that's what it's saying here that the uh he says the steps of a man are established by the lord when he delights in the way so this is definitely the christian because

[29:51] the lord cannot delight in the steps of somebody who is going in the opposite direction to the lord or not walking with the lord there's somebody who doesn't delight the lord will only delight in those who delight in him and the the non-christian doesn't delight in the lord any person today this in fact is a mark of grace if you find a delight in the lord and you say you know i actually i i delight in the lord he is he is to me precious nobody but somebody who loves the lord and has come to know the lord and you might think today i don't really know the lord well if you delight in him you have you'll come even though your knowledge might not be very great but the non-christian doesn't delight in the lord non-christian doesn't want to walk in the steps of the lord non-christian wants to walk in his or her own steps so god delights in the way of the believer and of course right throughout this psalm the believer and the unbeliever is very contrasted all the way through so the steps of this person here is one that the lord delights in and of course it's the steps of faith and the moment we come to faith in the lord jesus christ we begin a journey that starts here and ends in glory and you know our journey here however many years it's only going to be a short time in fact this world this world is such a short time that it's like you know if you went to stay somewhere for what do you say to yourself well for my first year when i was in glasgow i was staying in digs then i went into a flat but i was staying in digs and staying and any letter that was sent to me it was care of the person whose house it was was my house you see i was only staying there so it was care of the person whose house it was and in a sense that that's exactly how we are in this world it's care of because we're only here for a wee while we're moving on and so this journey the steps that we take all these steps are steps that we take of faith until the lord will eventually take us home and the suppose the thing that kind of throws us a wee bit is that we discover on this journey that we expect if the lord is establishing the steps we say to ourselves well if the lord's establishing the steps and there's a delight of the lord in this way because we're walking in the way of the lord then this should be a smooth passage passage all the way home but it shows us that's not exactly how it's going to be because it shows us here that there is all too strong the possibility that there could be falls along the way the fact that the lord leads us in a certain way doesn't mean that we're immune from trials and temptations one of the classic examples of that is with the lord jesus christ you remember what it tells us uh at the time just after his baptism it tells us here and jesus being full of the holy ghost returned from jordan and was led by the spirit the holy spirit into the wilderness being 40 days tempted of the devil so the holy spirit holy spirit didn't tempt jesus but the holy spirit led jesus into the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil and sometimes we think that when we believe that

[33:53] we're being led by god's spirit and then trials or difficulties or temptations come our way we say i must have got it wrong no we get in fact we could almost expect that there will be opposition when we are going in the right direction and so this shows us that we are there's a huge possibility and the likelihood of falling because you notice what it says though he fall when he delights in his way though he fall in other words there is every possibility that this person might fall there is every possibility that the believer might fall in fact i would find it strange to ever meet a christian who went through this world without ever ever ever falling doesn't mean that the falls are massive falls but it's almost impossible to imagine any christian say you know i never once fell falling is all too possible and the thing is that often when we do fall straight away we begin to question ourselves and we wonder am i a christian at all how is it possible that i could have done this how is it possible that i could have reacted and spoken in this way how is it possible that i could have said these things if i'm a christian if god's grace is in my heart if i am being led by the spirit how is it possible but you see this is this is this is who we are and so although it is it is sad when we fall we know that the bible shows us that that these things happen and you know one of the things that happens when we fall is we're humbled by it or we should be it's very strange we aren't because repeated if you keep falling it does as it did with me as a kid it made me begin to be a bit more careful and it's it's true spiritually as well and you know sometimes it can it can it can really knock us down from you know sometimes as young christians we can be a bit opinionated and sometimes sometimes some young christians can be very critical and judgmental and say oh this and that and the next thing you know there's after a few bumps and falls you begin to come off your high horse it's not just young christians that can be judgmental can be older christians as well but you know there's a few bands and a few bumps and a few falls and you begin not to be quite so maybe judgmental and critical of others and you know the thing is that if god was to open up to us you can you imagine going to a testimony meeting or going to a question meeting and that all of a sudden god was to reveal the person who got up to speak was god was to reveal on a screen behind the pulpit what that person was really like what you were really like what i was really like we would crumble we would run into the building which i can bear to look at that that's what we're really like and god in his mercy hides from us what what we're really like so we need to ask yourselves uh what what kind of falls are we most prone to well i suppose there's lots that we can say obviously sins of the flesh and the bible is full of examples of that the likes of noah with his drunkenness and uh david with his adultery and we've got to remember that these men these weren't kind of christians that just got by these were believers who were shining examples of great people of faith they were giants in the faith

[37:58] and yet we find them falling the shows us that the potential to fall is is incredible lot and his drunkenness and insets in fact when you look at lot's life you'd hardly believe you'd say to yourself oh lord yeah you you know you you followed the lord for a while but you lost it but the new testament calls them righteous lot sometimes the sins of the flesh may not be so glaring and obvious as he's men it could be like of isaac you remember isaac isaac blessed iso in spite of god having said that the the older would serve the younger the special blessing should have gone upon jacob the younger but isaac because he liked to see like the meat and he liked the way it was cooked and he liked what isa was doing and he was kind of in line tune with isa's with he was determined to give isa the blessing despite what god was saying that was a sin of the flesh wasn't the major kind of sin but it was still a serious and was still a very serious thing so we remember that the the flesh is lusting against the spirit there's a collision course going on within your heart and the flesh and the the lusts of the flesh some of them are most very obvious we could go through the whole thing you go to to to galatians and it'll list there some of the lust of the flesh and that we're told that the lust of the that the lusts of the flesh they war against the soul in other words it just it really damages us so it's got it's a big fight we've got to fight we need god's grace and we've got to be careful because let him that standeth beware lest he fall then there's the sins of disobedience now of course all sin is disobedience but of course there are sins of disobedience jonah's a classy example god told jonah jonah to go to ninovey and what do we find jonah doing jonah going in the very opposite direction to where god had told and you know we can be like that too where we deliberately defy what god is saying we choose to do our own thing we as it were put our fingers in our ears and refuse to listen to what god is saying and there might be it might be an attitude of mind that we have and we know it's wrong but we refuse to change it it might be the way that we speak and we know that it's wrong but we refuse to change it it might be the way we think of other people and we know what's wrong but we refuse to change it that is sin that's real disobedience where we that is where real sin is where we know what

[40:49] What we're doing is wrong and yet we refuse to change. God might be showing you where to go or what to do. And you won't do it because you say to yourself, this is too difficult for me.

[41:00] It's uncomfortable. I'm comfortable where I am. I don't want to. No, we have to do and go where God tells us to go. Again, you can have sins of pride.

[41:11] The likes of Hezekiah. I remember when he showed the Babylonian ambassadors all the riches of the temple. And he did it in a spirit of pride and God was displeased. You have to guard against pride.

[41:25] Particularly spiritual pride. Particularly thinking that we're ever above anybody else. That is so wrong. And you know, if there is pride, it's very closely tied in with jealousy.

[41:39] And you know, jealousy is one of the worst curses that can enter into the church. Where one person becomes jealous of another. Because the moment that you become jealous or envious of another, murder attaches to it.

[41:52] Jealousy and envy have murder in their way. You want to kill that person. You might say, oh no, I don't. Yes, you do. If you were to strip it down, if God was to reveal to you what murder, what envy and jealousy really brings, you'll see that it's actually murder.

[42:08] You go through the Bible and look at all the examples of those who were jealous and envious of others. And he tried to kill them. That's what envy is really like. And it's something you have to pray about.

[42:21] It's terrible to have one minister jealous of another or an elder jealous of another or a deacon or a member. Remember, God has given everybody different gifts.

[42:32] He hasn't equipped one person with all the gifts. And we've got to remember that. And we've got to appreciate the different gifts that different people have.

[42:44] And God has given the different gifts for the well-being of the church. So that when everybody pools together, doing their own little bit. It's not a one-man or two-man show, the church.

[42:56] It is where everybody is involved. And that's the best church. It's where everybody is involved with their own particular gifts. And so, this is what we have to do.

[43:09] To live for the Lord. Live for his glory. Live for his service. Working for him. Living for him. And you know, if we have this in our mind. If this is our daily thought.

[43:21] Lord, I want to live for you. I want to do for you. Use me in whatever way. It doesn't matter how lowly it is. Just I want to be of use. I want to work for you.

[43:32] You know, God will bless our lives. That is the way to live. Again, we can fall, for instance, through the fear of man. Like Peter we mentioned when talking to the young people.

[43:45] And Peter, of course, he felt. Peter, who was so proud in himself. And you know, there's fortune numbers whenever. But you know, when Peter became isolated and the enemies were all around, he lost it.

[44:00] And we have to be careful because it's all too easy in a particular situation that we end up denying Jesus. So, as the Bible says, let him that standeth beware lest he fall.

[44:14] But our steps are ultimately established by the Lord. And this is a great thing because the Lord will take us home. The journey is guaranteed.

[44:25] The end of the journey is guaranteed. As the word of God says, he who has begun a good work in you, excuse me, will perform it till the day of Jesus Christ.

[44:36] And you'll notice that the journey that we take is step by step. The steps. It's not the whole journey. It's the steps of the journey.

[44:48] And that's so important that every single day that we get up, that we say to our Lord, Lord, help me to walk in step with you today. And you know, sometimes we think if we could see further ahead, if we could see into next week, we would order our lives far better.

[45:04] No, we wouldn't. It would be ten times worse. God and his mercy has hidden from us what each day is going to bring. So that we walk by faith with him in the moment.

[45:16] That's how we live our life, in the moment. So we walk hand in hand with him. So we read at the very beginning, Show me thy ways, O Lord, thy paths, O teach thou me.

[45:31] But the beautiful thing here that we see is that there will be no fatal flaws. There's going to be all's recovery for the Christian. Because that's what it tells us here.

[45:43] That though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand. Isn't that wonderful? Oh yes, there's going to be falls and trips.

[45:54] But the Lord is in the business of restoring. He restores our soul. He goes out as a good shepherd and gets those who wandered away.

[46:07] The lame and the halt and all the different things that slow down and impede our walk. The Lord is there to help us. And just as we've often used the description of the parent holding the hand of the little toddler.

[46:23] And they're walking down together and they're little one trips. If the parent wasn't holding the hand, it would have been face planting. Bam! Bah! Bah! But no, it's not.

[46:35] There's a trip. There's sometimes swinging in the air. Falling. Maybe one hand goes all the way down. But kept from going all the way down because of the divine hand that is holding.

[46:46] And if you are following the Lord, if you are in step with the Lord, no fall that you have will ever be fatal. You know, there's never a cry from hell ever has been or ever will be.

[46:59] I was walking with the Lord. He had a hold of my hand. And look at where I am. No. Because nobody can pluck.

[47:10] Nobody. Not even the powers of darkness and hell can pluck the believer out of the hand of the Lord. Big question is, are you today walking with the Lord?

[47:22] Are you walking in step with the Lord? Has the Lord established your way? Okay. You make sure then that this very day you ask the Lord.

[47:33] If you aren't. Because if you aren't walking with the Lord, you're walking on your own. And you're walking in life on your own. And if you die on your own, you enter death on your own.

[47:44] And the implications of that. You go to the Bible. And just see what it says. You make sure that you're walking with the Lord. Let's pray.

[47:55] Lord our God, we pray that you will bless us and help us to walk with you every step of the way. Take away sin in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to conclude our service singing from Psalm number 80 in the Scottish Psalter.

[48:09] Psalm number 80 from verse 17. O let thy hand be still upon the man of thy right hand, the son of man whom for thyself thou madeest strong to stand.

[48:20] So henceforth we will not go back, nor turn from thee at all. O do thou quicken us, and we upon thy name shall call. And so on.

[48:30] Psalm 80, verses 17 to the end. O let thy hand be still upon. O let thy hand be still upon the man of thy right hand.

[48:51] The son of man whom for thyself thou madeest strong to stand.

[49:06] So henceforth we will not go back, nor turn from thee at all.

[49:21] O do thou quicken us, and we upon thy name will call.

[49:36] Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, and upon us march day.

[49:53] To make thy countenance to shine, and so we shall be saved.

[50:09]  Now may the grace, mercy, and peace of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest and abide upon each one of you now and forevermore. Amen. Amen.