WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.180 So, we're going to begin our worship now. 00:00:02.339 --> 00:00:04.419 We're singing, firstly, this evening in Psalm 98. 00:00:05.480 --> 00:00:11.620 Psalm number 98, that's from Sing Psalms, page 129, the tune is Glasgow. 00:00:14.939 --> 00:00:16.980 And we're singing verses 1 to 4. 00:00:17.900 --> 00:00:21.640 O sing a new song to the Lord, for wonders he has done. 00:00:22.219 --> 00:00:25.440 His right hand and his holy arm the victory have won. 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:28.859 The Lord declared his saving work and made it to be known 00:00:28.859 --> 00:00:31.079 to all the nations of the world. 00:00:31.179 --> 00:00:35.340 His righteousness has shown his steadfast love and faithfulness. 00:00:35.859 --> 00:00:41.539 He has remembered well the covenant he made with them, the house of Israel. 00:00:42.119 --> 00:00:45.539 Some of the greatest words in the Bible, theologically, 00:00:46.140 --> 00:00:50.399 words relating to our salvation, are found in the book of Psalms. 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:52.879 And you'll find them here in this psalm, for example, 00:00:53.460 --> 00:00:58.179 words like steadfast love, faithfulness, covenant, righteousness. 00:00:58.859 --> 00:00:59.539 And so on. 00:01:00.420 --> 00:01:02.240 And so we sing these verses, Psalm 98. 00:01:02.460 --> 00:01:04.980 O sing a new song to the Lord. 00:01:04.980 --> 00:01:25.980 O sing a new song to the Lord, for wonders he has done. 00:01:25.980 --> 00:01:42.980 His right hand and his holy arm the victory have won. 00:01:42.980 --> 00:02:01.359 The Lord declared his saving work and made it to be known. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:18.800 To all the nations of the world, his righteousness is shown. 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:22.460 He has remembered well that he has remembered something that he has known. 00:02:22.460 --> 00:02:24.160 Our faithfulness of Genesis 6, Psalm 91, 00:02:24.219 --> 00:02:25.300 And so um, możli grace, and your heart has shown up. 00:02:25.300 --> 00:02:27.560 Our kingdom is righteousness, and your joy isそこ 00:02:27.560 --> 00:02:29.600 And for grace, and your word can be no zero. 00:02:29.600 --> 00:02:31.660 Amen, in angels and your honor what we do. 00:02:31.660 --> 00:02:32.520 ぜ he has learned Yenny and your honor it to be known. 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:37.620 Praise God, we are partners in the end. 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:39.740 With your Lord, we are faithful to Him and will see the Lord. 00:02:39.740 --> 00:02:41.740 Amen. 00:03:09.740 --> 00:03:11.740 Amen. 00:03:39.740 --> 00:03:41.740 Amen. 00:04:09.740 --> 00:04:12.460 Let's now call upon the Lord in prayer. 00:04:12.460 --> 00:04:14.700 Let's join together in prayer. 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:20.579 Lord, we ask that you would unite our hearts as we worship you. 00:04:21.699 --> 00:04:26.079 Unite our hearts together and unite all our faculties individually 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:32.560 so that we may be able to worship you as you deserve to be worshipped in spirit and truth. 00:04:33.639 --> 00:04:38.639 And, O Lord, we ask that you would work within us this evening to stir up our souls 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:43.839 so that we may be able, as we have been singing, to give praise and thanks to you 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:47.139 in recognition of all that you are and all that you have done 00:04:47.139 --> 00:04:52.319 and all that you continue to do and all that you promise yet to do for your people. 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:56.019 Lord, we thank you, O Lord, tonight that we have this privilege, 00:04:56.639 --> 00:04:58.159 that you have gathered us together. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:00.500 We have not come of our own accord. 00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:05.199 We would not have the desire to come if you had not placed this desire in our hearts. 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:11.579 And we thank you, Lord, as we come, that we can come not in a mere formal outward fashion alone, 00:05:12.019 --> 00:05:16.639 but that we can come with that intense desire in our heart to meet with God. 00:05:16.699 --> 00:05:18.459 And we pray that you would create this in us. 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:21.939 We ask tonight, O Lord, that you would stimulate our minds 00:05:21.939 --> 00:05:26.860 so that we may give attention once again to what you have revealed to us in your Word. 00:05:27.659 --> 00:05:33.519 We thank you as we come before you that we can indeed ourselves reflect upon all that you have done 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:40.399 and all that you have continued to be to us as a people, as a congregation, and even as individuals as well. 00:05:41.240 --> 00:05:43.579 Lord, we thank you tonight for your faithfulness. 00:05:44.279 --> 00:05:47.859 We bless you for your loving kindness, which is better than life. 00:05:48.620 --> 00:05:51.240 We thank you for the great victory that you have won. 00:05:51.919 --> 00:05:55.639 You have achieved that victory, Lord, through your death on the cross 00:05:55.639 --> 00:05:59.199 and your resurrection from the dead and your exaltation to glory. 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:02.479 And through your intercession at God's right hand, 00:06:03.180 --> 00:06:08.800 we give thanks, O Lord, that your people are remembered and presented always before you. 00:06:09.659 --> 00:06:14.219 We pray, O Lord, tonight for the blessing of your Spirit to open up our minds 00:06:14.219 --> 00:06:16.659 and to open up your Word for us. 00:06:16.660 --> 00:06:19.460 We thank you that you are the Lord of the Scriptures, 00:06:20.260 --> 00:06:23.800 that you are the God who caused them to be written from the beginning, 00:06:24.580 --> 00:06:28.920 that you are the one who moved those who gave us these books of the Bible 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:35.180 so that in their own time you moved them to set down those things that were according to your will, 00:06:35.840 --> 00:06:38.680 that would be of benefit to your people down through the ages 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:40.980 and on through to the end of the world. 00:06:40.980 --> 00:06:43.920 We thank you tonight, O Lord, for the gospel, 00:06:44.640 --> 00:06:48.900 for the way in which in your Word we find that message of salvation in Christ. 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:55.000 And we thank you for the way in which that gospel has been proclaimed by your people 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:57.860 and is still being proclaimed throughout the world. 00:06:58.640 --> 00:07:02.640 We pray, Lord, that you would help us to have confidence in the gospel, 00:07:03.460 --> 00:07:06.080 enable us to see that we don't need to adjust it, 00:07:06.620 --> 00:07:08.900 that we don't need to add to it or take from it 00:07:08.899 --> 00:07:10.979 as we find it in its entirety, 00:07:11.579 --> 00:07:13.939 as Christ himself is the substance of it. 00:07:14.620 --> 00:07:16.179 We pray that you would enable us, Lord, 00:07:16.239 --> 00:07:21.459 to hold on to the way in which the Lord himself is presented to us in your Word. 00:07:22.039 --> 00:07:23.879 And enable us, we pray, to be confident 00:07:23.879 --> 00:07:27.639 that this is indeed the power of God unto salvation 00:07:27.639 --> 00:07:29.639 to everyone who believes, 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:31.819 of whatever background we may be. 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:33.739 We pray tonight, O Lord, 00:07:33.799 --> 00:07:36.479 that you would be amongst us in your saving work. 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:39.420 We thank you that we come before you expectantly 00:07:39.420 --> 00:07:42.140 and come before you confident, O Lord, 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:46.819 that you will apply your Word in a saving way to our hearts, 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:50.640 all who have come, O Lord, to be gathered here this evening. 00:07:51.220 --> 00:07:53.720 And we ask that this may be so in our experience, 00:07:54.300 --> 00:07:55.620 that it would please you, O Lord, 00:07:55.700 --> 00:07:59.500 to give to us a renewed sense of your own presence 00:07:59.500 --> 00:08:02.860 and your provision for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:08:02.860 --> 00:08:06.080 And we ask that you would draw our minds once again 00:08:06.080 --> 00:08:08.600 to those things which are so central 00:08:08.600 --> 00:08:12.120 and so substantial in the message of the Gospel, 00:08:12.819 --> 00:08:14.280 to the cross itself 00:08:14.280 --> 00:08:17.020 and to the Lord's resurrection from the dead, 00:08:17.639 --> 00:08:20.740 to the way in which we come to be made right with God 00:08:20.740 --> 00:08:23.819 and set before you in righteousness in his name 00:08:23.819 --> 00:08:25.460 and in union with him. 00:08:26.139 --> 00:08:29.040 And, Lord, we pray that we may be constrained 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:32.840 to carry forth this great message into the world of our day, 00:08:33.560 --> 00:08:37.259 a world that we know as has been the case down through the centuries 00:08:37.259 --> 00:08:41.519 and yet is no better off in our day than before 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:45.220 in its need of having salvation proclaimed, 00:08:45.980 --> 00:08:48.340 its need of being delivered from the thralldom 00:08:48.340 --> 00:08:51.379 of darkness and of sin and of ungodliness. 00:08:51.379 --> 00:08:54.600 And we ask, O God, in our day that we may see 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:58.039 many coming to be delivered through the power of the Gospel 00:08:58.039 --> 00:08:59.960 from the grip of sin 00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:04.039 and being transferred from the realm of Satan 00:09:04.039 --> 00:09:07.240 into the kingdom of your own beloved Son. 00:09:07.939 --> 00:09:12.240 We pray that tonight, Lord, there be many conversions to Christ. 00:09:12.620 --> 00:09:14.259 We ask that here itself, 00:09:14.779 --> 00:09:17.860 many who may be here and are not yet saved 00:09:17.860 --> 00:09:20.659 will come to know this very evening 00:09:20.659 --> 00:09:23.120 as the time of their great change, 00:09:23.580 --> 00:09:27.000 as the moment of that transition from darkness to light 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:31.360 into the liberty with which Christ is able to make us free. 00:09:32.100 --> 00:09:35.320 Bless us, we pray, as a congregation of your people. 00:09:36.060 --> 00:09:38.100 Bless us in all our activities 00:09:38.100 --> 00:09:39.860 along with our worship services. 00:09:40.620 --> 00:09:42.440 Lord, our God, we offer them to you 00:09:42.440 --> 00:09:45.480 and pray that you would bless them to ourselves 00:09:45.480 --> 00:09:48.940 and to others that we seek to benefit by them. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:52.379 We ask us this week unfolds, O Lord, by your will, 00:09:52.940 --> 00:09:55.840 that we may have your blessing for the midweek meetings, 00:09:56.220 --> 00:09:59.440 for those things that we anticipate happening 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:01.620 in various days of the week. 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:05.200 We pray that you would bless the fundraising activities 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:08.860 for Giga, as we have for other causes as well. 00:10:09.680 --> 00:10:12.440 We ask that you would bless the way towards 00:10:12.440 --> 00:10:14.220 the breakfast next Lord's Day. 00:10:14.220 --> 00:10:16.660 We pray, Lord, that many will come 00:10:16.660 --> 00:10:19.160 and come into contact with the gospel, 00:10:19.779 --> 00:10:21.019 with the message of Christ, 00:10:21.220 --> 00:10:23.300 crucified and risen from the dead. 00:10:23.820 --> 00:10:25.840 We pray that you would give us, Lord, 00:10:25.899 --> 00:10:28.399 to be concerned to pass that message to them 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:30.379 with love and with concern 00:10:30.379 --> 00:10:32.639 and with patience and with tact. 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:35.080 And enable us to be thankful, O Lord, 00:10:35.139 --> 00:10:37.000 that we have this opportunity. 00:10:37.660 --> 00:10:39.399 And we pray that you would bless this 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:41.559 to us as a people and to those 00:10:41.559 --> 00:10:45.659 that will come and partake of themselves 00:10:45.659 --> 00:10:48.340 of what is provided for them. 00:10:48.899 --> 00:10:50.539 We ask, O Lord, to your blessing 00:10:50.539 --> 00:10:53.340 for those who are anticipating baptism 00:10:53.340 --> 00:10:55.579 for their children next Lord's Day. 00:10:56.120 --> 00:10:57.819 We pray for both of these families. 00:10:58.419 --> 00:11:00.939 We thank you for their part in the congregation. 00:11:01.399 --> 00:11:03.220 We pray for them as parents. 00:11:03.620 --> 00:11:05.220 We pray for the children as well. 00:11:05.220 --> 00:11:07.540 We ask, O Lord, that they, 00:11:07.660 --> 00:11:09.160 along with those recently baptized, 00:11:09.960 --> 00:11:11.100 will come more and more 00:11:11.100 --> 00:11:13.379 into the understanding of 00:11:13.379 --> 00:11:15.660 and the commitment to the gospel 00:11:15.660 --> 00:11:18.639 that we find set out in these things for us. 00:11:19.160 --> 00:11:20.259 We pray tonight, Lord, 00:11:20.340 --> 00:11:21.440 for those of our number 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:22.720 who are unwell. 00:11:23.480 --> 00:11:24.220 Bless, we pray, 00:11:24.300 --> 00:11:25.139 those who are suffering 00:11:25.139 --> 00:11:27.019 from COVID infection. 00:11:27.019 --> 00:11:28.620 We pray for them 00:11:28.620 --> 00:11:30.039 and ask your blessing for them. 00:11:30.579 --> 00:11:31.699 We pray for those suffering 00:11:31.699 --> 00:11:33.740 from other illnesses as well 00:11:33.740 --> 00:11:35.659 and ask especially for any 00:11:35.659 --> 00:11:36.799 who are seriously ill 00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:38.919 and for those who may be approaching 00:11:38.919 --> 00:11:40.620 the very border of death 00:11:40.620 --> 00:11:41.460 and of eternity. 00:11:42.259 --> 00:11:44.279 O Lord, we pray for that preparation. 00:11:45.019 --> 00:11:46.319 We ask that you would give them 00:11:46.319 --> 00:11:48.139 to be ready for that moment 00:11:48.139 --> 00:11:49.919 as we seek for us all 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:51.779 so that we may be ushered 00:11:51.779 --> 00:11:54.600 into that life of bliss in heaven 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:57.600 and not be taken away from you. 00:11:58.279 --> 00:11:59.680 We ask your blessing too 00:11:59.680 --> 00:12:01.420 for those, Lord, 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:03.680 who mourn the passing of loved ones 00:12:03.680 --> 00:12:04.580 in recent days, 00:12:05.180 --> 00:12:06.399 in recent weeks and months, 00:12:06.740 --> 00:12:07.940 as well as for those 00:12:07.940 --> 00:12:09.920 who can reach back in their memories 00:12:09.920 --> 00:12:10.680 and for whom 00:12:10.680 --> 00:12:12.040 their evening is still 00:12:12.040 --> 00:12:13.379 very much a live issue. 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:15.399 Lord, we ask that all 00:12:15.399 --> 00:12:16.980 who miss loved ones, 00:12:17.019 --> 00:12:18.540 whose hearts still ache for them 00:12:18.540 --> 00:12:21.320 and who have had to adjust 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:23.100 so much in life to their absence, 00:12:23.100 --> 00:12:24.480 be pleased, Lord, 00:12:24.540 --> 00:12:25.600 to draw near to them 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:27.340 even tonight through the gospel 00:12:27.340 --> 00:12:28.200 and through your word. 00:12:28.779 --> 00:12:29.840 Minister comfort, 00:12:30.340 --> 00:12:31.000 consolation, 00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:32.300 encouragement to them. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:33.800 We ask your blessing 00:12:33.800 --> 00:12:34.980 for all who have gone forth 00:12:34.980 --> 00:12:36.139 with the gospel 00:12:36.139 --> 00:12:37.860 to different parts of the world. 00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:39.560 We ask that your blessing 00:12:39.560 --> 00:12:40.460 will be with those 00:12:40.460 --> 00:12:42.740 who serve in God is Good Africa, 00:12:43.340 --> 00:12:43.940 those Kenny John 00:12:43.940 --> 00:12:44.980 and those who help him. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:46.680 We pray that the fundraising 00:12:46.680 --> 00:12:48.639 may be a further success 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:51.460 to supplement the funds 00:12:51.460 --> 00:12:52.460 needed for the work. 00:12:53.100 --> 00:12:54.139 We ask, O Lord, too, 00:12:54.220 --> 00:12:55.820 for Muriel in Cambodia. 00:12:56.600 --> 00:12:57.639 We thank you for her. 00:12:57.759 --> 00:12:59.659 We pray for her at this time. 00:12:59.800 --> 00:13:00.720 We thank you for the way 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:02.120 that we are able, 00:13:02.340 --> 00:13:04.659 through technology available to us, 00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:08.540 to have times of fellowship with her, 00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:10.220 times when we can hear 00:13:10.220 --> 00:13:11.940 of updates from her 00:13:11.940 --> 00:13:13.159 and meet together 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:14.100 in prayer with her. 00:13:14.659 --> 00:13:15.659 Lord, we pray for her 00:13:15.659 --> 00:13:16.800 and ask that you would continue 00:13:16.800 --> 00:13:18.100 to bless her 00:13:18.100 --> 00:13:18.860 and give her 00:13:18.860 --> 00:13:21.300 all that she seeks from you, 00:13:21.379 --> 00:13:21.539 Lord, 00:13:21.620 --> 00:13:23.399 to continue to serve you. 00:13:23.899 --> 00:13:24.680 And we pray for her 00:13:24.680 --> 00:13:26.139 as she anticipates her future 00:13:26.139 --> 00:13:28.100 and ask that you would guide her 00:13:28.100 --> 00:13:29.580 into that future, 00:13:29.680 --> 00:13:30.980 whatever it may hold for her. 00:13:31.620 --> 00:13:33.500 We pray for those tonight, 00:13:33.659 --> 00:13:33.800 Lord, 00:13:33.879 --> 00:13:34.680 who are in hospital, 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:36.820 those who are in care homes, 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:38.740 those who are no longer able 00:13:38.740 --> 00:13:40.659 to look after themselves 00:13:40.659 --> 00:13:41.680 without help. 00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:43.600 We thank you for the help available 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:44.580 and we pray for them. 00:13:45.100 --> 00:13:46.259 We pray for their families. 00:13:46.259 --> 00:13:48.500 We ask that you would make us thankful, 00:13:48.740 --> 00:13:48.960 O Lord, 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:49.720 for the provision 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:51.120 that you make for us 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:52.200 in these times of need. 00:13:52.939 --> 00:13:53.600 Remember, too, 00:13:53.659 --> 00:13:55.319 we pray those who reach out 00:13:55.319 --> 00:13:57.939 to those with various problems in life. 00:13:58.059 --> 00:13:59.279 We pray for those 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:00.960 who have various addictions 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:02.399 and those who are seeking 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:03.179 to help them 00:14:03.179 --> 00:14:04.460 and give them support. 00:14:04.580 --> 00:14:05.179 We ask, Lord, 00:14:05.259 --> 00:14:06.840 for the work of the shed, 00:14:06.939 --> 00:14:08.259 for the work of Road to Recovery, 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:10.120 for the work of Safe Families. 00:14:10.759 --> 00:14:12.319 We commend all of these to you, 00:14:12.360 --> 00:14:12.799 O Lord. 00:14:13.419 --> 00:14:14.240 We pray that they may be 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:15.100 of much benefit 00:14:15.100 --> 00:14:17.620 to those who seek 00:14:17.620 --> 00:14:18.560 to avail themselves 00:14:18.560 --> 00:14:19.899 of their help. 00:14:19.960 --> 00:14:20.680 And we ask that 00:14:20.680 --> 00:14:21.740 you would continue 00:14:21.740 --> 00:14:23.040 to encourage those 00:14:23.040 --> 00:14:24.800 who are involved 00:14:24.800 --> 00:14:25.600 in these works. 00:14:26.379 --> 00:14:26.879 And so, Lord, 00:14:26.899 --> 00:14:28.080 we ask that you would bless us 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:29.379 and bless us, too, 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:31.080 as a nation at this time 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:32.740 when we find that 00:14:32.740 --> 00:14:34.259 element of turmoil 00:14:34.259 --> 00:14:35.320 even amongst those, 00:14:35.820 --> 00:14:36.080 O Lord, 00:14:36.120 --> 00:14:37.279 who lead us in government. 00:14:37.980 --> 00:14:38.540 Be pleased, 00:14:38.620 --> 00:14:39.759 we pray, O God, 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:41.740 to establish righteousness 00:14:41.740 --> 00:14:42.500 in our midst 00:14:42.500 --> 00:14:43.340 and in our leadership. 00:14:43.340 --> 00:14:44.860 We long for the day, 00:14:44.980 --> 00:14:45.139 Lord, 00:14:45.220 --> 00:14:46.519 when those over us 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:47.940 will come to confess 00:14:47.940 --> 00:14:49.259 themselves as your people, 00:14:49.899 --> 00:14:50.800 confess your laws 00:14:50.800 --> 00:14:51.600 as their laws, 00:14:51.980 --> 00:14:52.660 and your word 00:14:52.660 --> 00:14:53.560 as that word 00:14:53.560 --> 00:14:55.040 which they relish 00:14:55.040 --> 00:14:56.240 and is foundational 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:56.879 to them. 00:14:57.399 --> 00:14:57.660 Lord, 00:14:57.740 --> 00:14:58.420 we pray that 00:14:58.420 --> 00:14:59.639 you would bless us 00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:00.360 at this time 00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:01.240 and deliver us 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:03.460 from the very obvious 00:15:03.460 --> 00:15:04.200 ungodliness 00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:05.680 that is so evident 00:15:05.680 --> 00:15:07.860 a part of our society 00:15:07.860 --> 00:15:08.600 at this time. 00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:10.620 Receive our thanks now. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:12.500 Cleanse us from all our sin. 00:15:12.500 --> 00:15:13.740 Do for us more 00:15:13.740 --> 00:15:14.340 than we are able 00:15:14.340 --> 00:15:15.360 to ask or think. 00:15:15.740 --> 00:15:17.039 For Jesus' sake. 00:15:17.460 --> 00:15:17.779 Amen. 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:21.419 Let's praise the Lord again. 00:15:21.539 --> 00:15:22.179 This time we're singing 00:15:22.179 --> 00:15:24.320 in Psalm 115. 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:26.960 This time in the Scottish Psalter, 00:15:27.059 --> 00:15:27.940 Psalm 115. 00:15:29.139 --> 00:15:30.179 And at verse 10 00:15:30.179 --> 00:15:32.000 to a tune St. Andrew. 00:15:32.460 --> 00:15:35.299 It's on page 395. 00:15:35.299 --> 00:15:37.639 O Aaron's house, 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:38.719 trust in the Lord, 00:15:39.319 --> 00:15:40.779 their help and shield is he. 00:15:41.500 --> 00:15:42.620 Ye that fear God, 00:15:42.759 --> 00:15:43.679 trust in the Lord, 00:15:44.259 --> 00:15:46.679 their help and shield he'll be. 00:15:46.759 --> 00:15:47.659 So from verse 10 00:15:47.659 --> 00:15:49.759 down to the end of the psalm, 00:15:49.839 --> 00:15:50.299 Psalm 115. 00:15:50.299 --> 00:15:51.299 Psalm 115. 00:15:51.299 --> 00:16:00.679 O Aaron's house, 00:16:00.759 --> 00:16:05.039 trust in the Lord, 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:12.559 their help and shield is he. 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:17.799 He that fear God, 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:22.519 trust in the Lord, 00:16:22.519 --> 00:16:30.679 their help and shield he'll be. 00:16:30.679 --> 00:16:33.919 The Lord, 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:35.139 the Lord, 00:16:35.139 --> 00:16:35.419 the Lord, 00:16:35.419 --> 00:16:40.959 have a mind for thee, 00:16:40.959 --> 00:16:48.799 and he will bless us still. 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:58.799 He will the hearts of Israel bless. 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:00.199 Blessed, 00:17:00.199 --> 00:17:03.039 their children's house, 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:06.399 he will. 00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:12.740 Who's warm and great, 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:17.220 that fear the Lord, 00:17:17.700 --> 00:17:25.319 he will then surely bless. 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:30.059 The Lord will do you, 00:17:30.059 --> 00:17:35.200 you and your seed, 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:38.200 they won't, 00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:43.559 and won't increase. 00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:53.859 O blessed are ye of the Lord, 00:17:53.859 --> 00:18:01.779 whom in the earth of heaven. 00:18:01.779 --> 00:18:09.740 The heavenly heavens are lost, 00:18:09.740 --> 00:18:19.459 but ye are to men's sons again. 00:18:19.460 --> 00:18:29.380 The heavenly heavens are new to silence, 00:18:29.380 --> 00:18:37.460 O God's praise to no reward. 00:18:37.460 --> 00:18:38.860 Lord, 00:18:38.860 --> 00:18:43.700 but hence for thee, 00:18:43.700 --> 00:18:48.740 all ever well. 00:18:49.380 --> 00:18:51.680 Blessed God, 00:18:51.840 --> 00:18:56.940 praise ye the Lord. 00:18:58.940 --> 00:19:03.900 Now let's turn to read God's word as we find that this evening in Paul's letter to the Romans. 00:19:03.900 --> 00:19:05.900 Romans, 00:19:05.900 --> 00:19:09.900 and we're reading from chapter one from the beginning down as far as verse 17. 00:19:12.540 --> 00:19:14.019 The letter of Paul to the Romans, 00:19:14.019 --> 00:19:17.240 chapter one and verses one to 17. 00:19:17.240 --> 00:19:23.820 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, 00:19:23.820 --> 00:19:25.940 called to be an apostle, 00:19:25.940 --> 00:19:28.860 set apart for the gospel of God, 00:19:28.859 --> 00:19:34.740 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his son, 00:19:34.740 --> 00:19:38.059 who was descended from David according to the flesh, 00:19:38.779 --> 00:19:43.500 and was declared to be the son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness, 00:19:43.500 --> 00:19:46.099 by his resurrection from the dead, 00:19:46.819 --> 00:19:47.819 Jesus Christ, 00:19:47.899 --> 00:19:48.559 our Lord, 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:57.639 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:02.299 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 00:20:02.299 --> 00:20:07.299 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints, 00:20:07.299 --> 00:20:10.079 grace to you and peace from God, 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:12.720 our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:14.099 First, 00:20:14.379 --> 00:20:17.779 I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, 00:20:18.440 --> 00:20:21.139 because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:23.299 For God is my witness, 00:20:23.500 --> 00:20:26.559 whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:28.299 that without ceasing, 00:20:28.299 --> 00:20:30.299 I mention you always in my prayers, 00:20:31.059 --> 00:20:33.019 asking that somehow by God's will, 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:36.200 I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 00:20:36.919 --> 00:20:38.319 For I long to see you, 00:20:38.819 --> 00:20:42.359 that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, 00:20:42.919 --> 00:20:43.480 that is, 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:47.079 that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, 00:20:47.159 --> 00:20:48.399 both yours and mine. 00:20:49.299 --> 00:20:50.279 I want you to know, 00:20:50.419 --> 00:20:50.639 brothers, 00:20:51.059 --> 00:20:53.319 that I have often intended to come to you, 00:20:53.799 --> 00:20:55.720 but thus far have been prevented, 00:20:55.720 --> 00:20:59.180 in order that I may reap some harvest among you, 00:20:59.480 --> 00:21:01.860 as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 00:21:02.600 --> 00:21:05.920 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, 00:21:06.579 --> 00:21:08.319 both to the wise and to the foolish. 00:21:09.220 --> 00:21:12.180 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also, 00:21:12.740 --> 00:21:13.680 who are in Rome. 00:21:14.420 --> 00:21:16.140 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, 00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:19.019 for it is the power of God for salvation 00:21:19.019 --> 00:21:20.819 to everyone who believes, 00:21:21.360 --> 00:21:23.480 to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 00:21:23.480 --> 00:21:24.799 For in it, 00:21:24.940 --> 00:21:28.480 the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:30.120 as it is written, 00:21:30.700 --> 00:21:33.839 the righteous shall live by faith. 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:36.339 And so on, 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:40.160 and we pray again that God will bless to us this portion of his word. 00:21:40.259 --> 00:21:42.539 Before we turn to look at these verses, 00:21:42.759 --> 00:21:43.779 let's sing once again, 00:21:44.299 --> 00:21:45.980 and we're singing in Psalm 97. 00:21:46.940 --> 00:21:47.380 Again, 00:21:47.460 --> 00:21:48.539 it's in the Scottish Psalter, 00:21:49.099 --> 00:21:50.579 on page 360, 00:21:50.579 --> 00:21:51.859 Psalm 97, 00:21:53.399 --> 00:21:54.960 verses 8 to 12. 00:21:58.960 --> 00:22:00.359 And we're singing to a tune, 00:22:00.460 --> 00:22:01.019 Argyle. 00:22:01.980 --> 00:22:03.079 Zion did hear, 00:22:03.179 --> 00:22:04.259 and joyful was, 00:22:04.679 --> 00:22:06.480 glad Judah's daughters were. 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:08.259 They much rejoiced, 00:22:08.379 --> 00:22:08.699 O Lord, 00:22:08.759 --> 00:22:10.599 because thy judgments did appear. 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:11.879 For thou, 00:22:11.939 --> 00:22:12.359 O Lord, 00:22:12.439 --> 00:22:13.339 art high above 00:22:13.339 --> 00:22:15.579 all things on earth that are. 00:22:16.179 --> 00:22:17.359 Above all other gods, 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:19.219 thou art exalted very far. 00:22:20.119 --> 00:22:22.119 Hate ill all ye that love the Lord. 00:22:22.719 --> 00:22:24.399 His saint souls keepeth he, 00:22:24.899 --> 00:22:26.419 and from the hands of wicked men, 00:22:26.919 --> 00:22:28.519 he sets them safe and free. 00:22:29.119 --> 00:22:30.779 For all those that be righteous, 00:22:31.299 --> 00:22:32.939 sown is a joyful light, 00:22:33.579 --> 00:22:36.899 and gladness sown is for all those that are in heart upright. 00:22:37.740 --> 00:22:39.079 Ye righteous in the Lord, 00:22:39.219 --> 00:22:39.599 rejoice, 00:22:40.299 --> 00:22:41.359 express your thankfulness, 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:46.199 when ye into your memory to call his holiness. 00:22:46.899 --> 00:22:47.500 These verses, 00:22:47.699 --> 00:22:48.459 Zion did hear, 00:22:48.679 --> 00:22:50.439 and joyful was. 00:22:50.439 --> 00:22:50.939 Amen. 00:22:50.939 --> 00:22:51.439 Amen. 00:22:51.439 --> 00:22:51.500 Amen. 00:22:55.500 --> 00:22:59.799 Zion did hear, 00:22:59.979 --> 00:23:04.819 and joyful was, 00:23:05.079 --> 00:23:11.319 that Judah's daughters were. 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:18.000 They must rejoice, 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:20.319 O Lord, 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:30.599 because thy judgments did appear. 00:23:30.599 --> 00:23:36.240 For thou, O Lord, 00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:40.599 art high above, 00:23:40.599 --> 00:23:49.240 all things on earth that are. 00:23:49.240 --> 00:23:57.419 Above all other gods, 00:23:57.419 --> 00:24:07.299 the world exalted very far. 00:24:07.299 --> 00:24:15.940 He did not know the Lord, 00:24:15.940 --> 00:24:25.940 and of the Lord his sins so keepeth he, 00:24:25.940 --> 00:24:34.580 and from the hands of wicked men, 00:24:34.580 --> 00:24:40.580 he sets them safe and free. 00:24:40.579 --> 00:24:49.220 For all those that be righteous, 00:24:49.220 --> 00:24:53.220 for all those that be righteous, 00:24:53.220 --> 00:25:01.860 so is a joyful light, 00:25:01.860 --> 00:25:07.860 and gladness soon is for all those that are in heart upright. 00:25:07.859 --> 00:25:16.500 He is for all those that are in heart upright. 00:25:16.500 --> 00:25:25.140 He is for all those that are in heart upright. 00:25:25.140 --> 00:25:33.780 He is for all those that are in heart upright. 00:25:33.779 --> 00:25:42.420 He is for all those that are in heart upright. 00:25:42.420 --> 00:25:56.000 He is for all those that are in heart upright. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:26:04.839 Please turn with me now to Romans chapter 1. 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:10.980 Romans chapter 1, and we're going to look at verses 8 to 17. 00:26:14.500 --> 00:26:20.039 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed 00:26:20.039 --> 00:26:21.240 in all the world. 00:26:21.240 --> 00:26:27.599 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:33.339 ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now 00:26:33.339 --> 00:26:37.160 at last succeed in coming to you, and so on. 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:44.180 What would you say is the main topic of the epistle to the Romans? 00:26:44.180 --> 00:26:52.720 You might reply to that by saying, well, surely it's to do with justification by faith in 00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:58.340 Christ, and that's certainly very much one of the main topics, one of the main themes 00:26:58.340 --> 00:27:03.160 and topics dealt with, one of the main truths that you find dealt with throughout the epistle 00:27:03.160 --> 00:27:04.140 to the Romans. 00:27:04.860 --> 00:27:10.420 You might say, well, it's also the place of the Jewish people in the covenant arrangement 00:27:10.420 --> 00:27:16.460 of God, such as you find in chapters 9 to 11 of Romans. 00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:24.420 You might say that it's Jesus Christ himself, because obviously he appears in all of these 00:27:24.420 --> 00:27:30.200 passages in some way or another, or at least they relate to him and his person and his work. 00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:37.420 But you could also say, very tellingly, that the main topic of the letter to the Romans is 00:27:37.420 --> 00:27:45.539 the gospel, that it's the gospel that Paul is setting out in this great letter that has 00:27:45.539 --> 00:27:50.460 so many theological high points throughout it. 00:27:51.240 --> 00:27:55.240 And he makes it obvious at the beginning that this really is his main topic. 00:27:55.620 --> 00:28:00.560 He's called to be an apostle set apart for the gospel of God. 00:28:01.120 --> 00:28:06.519 And he goes on to speak about this gospel in such a way that shows Christ as the substance 00:28:06.519 --> 00:28:13.480 of it, that his concern is to declare the gospel, the preaching of Christ, and that he is not 00:28:13.480 --> 00:28:21.079 ashamed, verse 16 of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who 00:28:21.079 --> 00:28:21.579 believes. 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:28.500 And as you can see in verses 1 to 6, as I've said, the substance of the gospel immediately 00:28:28.500 --> 00:28:32.400 is set out as the person of Jesus Christ himself. 00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:39.720 The gospel is not so much an account of certain things which happened in history. 00:28:40.460 --> 00:28:45.800 The gospel, the good news, which of course the word gospel means, is about a person. 00:28:46.820 --> 00:28:47.600 It's not a theory. 00:28:47.800 --> 00:28:48.680 It's not a philosophy. 00:28:49.540 --> 00:28:54.780 It's not something that sits alongside other world viewpoints or points of view. 00:28:54.779 --> 00:29:02.819 It is Jesus Christ, his death, his resurrection from the dead, his present position at God's 00:29:02.819 --> 00:29:07.720 right hand, and his coming at the end of the world as the judge of all the earth. 00:29:08.500 --> 00:29:11.539 The gospel is really about Jesus. 00:29:12.460 --> 00:29:13.779 He is its substance. 00:29:14.279 --> 00:29:19.899 It's all to do with him, what God has done and will do and is doing in Christ and through 00:29:19.900 --> 00:29:20.380 Christ. 00:29:21.460 --> 00:29:29.160 And verses 8 to 17, we could say, is really about gospel people and gospel power. 00:29:30.019 --> 00:29:39.720 Gospel people because he mentions in verses 8 to 17 how, first of all, certain people are 00:29:39.720 --> 00:29:44.180 associated with the gospel, that is, those who follow the Lord, those who are witnesses 00:29:44.180 --> 00:29:53.120 to God, witnesses to Christ in the sense of being saved, the saved people of God. 00:29:54.259 --> 00:30:02.019 And you also have in verses 16 to 17 an emphasis on the power of the gospel following on from 00:30:02.019 --> 00:30:05.600 what he says about the people, the gospel people. 00:30:06.900 --> 00:30:11.880 And these are the two things I want to just briefly seek to set before you this evening. 00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:15.040 gospel people and gospel power. 00:30:15.800 --> 00:30:20.560 And you see in verse 8 there, in terms of gospel people, he says, first, I thank my God 00:30:20.560 --> 00:30:26.560 through Jesus Christ for all of you because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 00:30:27.160 --> 00:30:29.880 What a remarkable statement that itself is. 00:30:30.320 --> 00:30:32.180 Just think about what that's saying for a moment. 00:30:32.580 --> 00:30:37.980 Here is the basis or a basis or one of the reasons why Paul is giving thanks for these Christians 00:30:37.980 --> 00:30:43.339 in Rome, why he's giving thanks not only for them, but what they are known as, because 00:30:43.339 --> 00:30:45.519 they are known as Christians. 00:30:45.660 --> 00:30:49.200 Your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 00:30:49.460 --> 00:30:50.259 Now think about that. 00:30:50.539 --> 00:30:52.420 Rome is the place. 00:30:52.940 --> 00:30:55.860 Rome is the center of the universe in Paul's day. 00:30:55.980 --> 00:31:00.720 It's the capital of the massive Roman Empire, of the influential Roman Empire. 00:31:01.240 --> 00:31:05.680 Rome is the grandest city in the world of the time. 00:31:05.680 --> 00:31:12.960 Rome really has all the kudos, all the importance, everything associated as it followed on from 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:22.380 the Greek Empire before that, how the Roman Empire is now in Paul's day really the influence 00:31:22.380 --> 00:31:29.320 in the world, the city that is central to all that Rome is and all that the Roman Empire 00:31:29.320 --> 00:31:32.299 believes and sets itself out to be. 00:31:32.299 --> 00:31:39.700 But it's also, of course, as it is the capital of the Roman Empire, it's the capital of paganism, 00:31:40.639 --> 00:31:47.819 the capital of that outlook that so many people in Paul's day had as they looked to pagan gods, 00:31:47.940 --> 00:31:55.180 as they looked to philosophies associated with pagan gods, gods that were themselves worshipped 00:31:55.180 --> 00:31:56.500 in idolatry. 00:31:56.500 --> 00:32:02.920 And this is the capital of paganism, of idolatry, though there are many other places in Paul's 00:32:02.920 --> 00:32:03.279 world. 00:32:03.700 --> 00:32:08.279 As you know from the other epistles, Corinth and Ephesus and Thessalonica, for example, 00:32:08.380 --> 00:32:11.140 all centers of paganism in Athens. 00:32:12.059 --> 00:32:20.599 But Paul is, let's say, here thinking of Rome as the very centerpiece of that paganism throughout 00:32:20.599 --> 00:32:21.420 the empire. 00:32:21.420 --> 00:32:27.320 And it's really that way, in that way, it's the capital, you might say, of all that is opposed 00:32:27.320 --> 00:32:28.080 to the gospel. 00:32:29.420 --> 00:32:36.340 It's the capital of the philosophy or the worldview in pagan philosophy that stands against Christ 00:32:36.340 --> 00:32:37.560 and against his gospel. 00:32:38.720 --> 00:32:44.200 And yet, and yet, God has his people in Rome. 00:32:44.200 --> 00:32:47.819 God has established a church in Rome. 00:32:48.420 --> 00:32:51.240 Paul is writing to this church in Rome. 00:32:51.400 --> 00:32:57.920 Paul is writing to these Roman Christians set in the capital city of a pagan empire that 00:32:57.920 --> 00:33:04.840 are followers of Christ, whose allegiance is not primarily to Caesar, to the emperor, but 00:33:04.840 --> 00:33:06.059 to Christ the King. 00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:12.700 And how that should give us encouragement tonight in our situation, in our world as well. 00:33:12.700 --> 00:33:21.059 Because if Paul is saying that God, as he has, has planted a church in Rome, where can he 00:33:21.059 --> 00:33:22.120 not plant a church? 00:33:23.460 --> 00:33:30.420 There isn't a place on earth tonight that is outwith the capability of God to establish 00:33:30.420 --> 00:33:32.019 a people for himself there. 00:33:32.600 --> 00:33:39.019 The most vehemently opposed dictatorship on earth tonight is still vulnerable to the gospel. 00:33:39.019 --> 00:33:45.319 And God can break through at any time, whether it's in North Korea or in Russia, wherever 00:33:45.319 --> 00:33:45.720 it is. 00:33:45.879 --> 00:33:53.099 Remember, as you find these circumstances brought before us in Ukraine, the massive onslaught 00:33:53.099 --> 00:33:58.900 against him from the Russian forces, remember that God is at work. 00:33:59.700 --> 00:34:06.119 Remember that that may very well be an instrument of God, not just in Ukraine, but in Russia itself, 00:34:06.119 --> 00:34:10.940 to bring people to really think about what is it we're standing for? 00:34:11.199 --> 00:34:13.440 What is it that our nation stands for? 00:34:13.659 --> 00:34:15.900 What is it that our president stands for? 00:34:16.819 --> 00:34:23.059 And pray that God will actually use what's happening even there to be a means of further 00:34:23.059 --> 00:34:29.139 establishing his own cause and his people and his church in these circumstances. 00:34:29.139 --> 00:34:35.779 Remember, as we saw in Philippians and in chapter 4, where Paul was sending greetings at the 00:34:35.779 --> 00:34:41.599 end of chapter 4 of Philippians, where he sent greetings especially to those that he was writing 00:34:41.599 --> 00:34:47.079 to in Philippi, those of Caesar's household greet you. 00:34:47.719 --> 00:34:55.599 We saw earlier in the early part of the letter to the Philippians how Paul spoke about those 00:34:55.599 --> 00:35:00.839 who were of Caesar's household, those who actually belonged as servants in the very palace of 00:35:00.839 --> 00:35:01.179 Caesar. 00:35:01.360 --> 00:35:02.699 They had become Christians. 00:35:03.699 --> 00:35:06.299 They had been nurtured through other Christians. 00:35:07.299 --> 00:35:11.360 They had a relationship with Jesus Christ, their King, their Savior. 00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:22.620 Putin, whatever he's able to do and able to resist, cannot resist the Holy Spirit. 00:35:23.860 --> 00:35:26.440 He cannot dictate which way God will work. 00:35:27.640 --> 00:35:35.300 He cannot himself, nor anyone like him, prevent the gospel being the power of God unto salvation. 00:35:35.980 --> 00:35:41.019 He cannot prevent God's people in Russia being nurtured by the Holy Spirit. 00:35:41.360 --> 00:35:43.960 He cannot prevent conversions to Christ. 00:35:45.099 --> 00:35:48.960 It is God who has charge over the universe. 00:35:50.079 --> 00:35:51.579 Encourage yourself tonight. 00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:57.460 Let's encourage ourselves as a congregation, as we're facing the might of the world around 00:35:57.460 --> 00:36:03.500 us, as we're facing so much that is opposed to the gospel, so much that really challenges 00:36:03.500 --> 00:36:06.120 the gospel at its very core, its very foundation. 00:36:07.059 --> 00:36:10.099 Take encouragement from the fact that nothing is beyond God. 00:36:10.099 --> 00:36:17.679 God can do what he's done in Rome, in Stornoway, throughout Lewis, throughout our country, 00:36:18.259 --> 00:36:19.319 wherever in the world. 00:36:20.519 --> 00:36:25.639 So here he is saying, there are witnesses to Christ here in Rome. 00:36:25.639 --> 00:36:31.480 And he regards them, Paul regards them as his spiritual family. 00:36:32.219 --> 00:36:34.359 See what he's saying here in verse 13. 00:36:34.900 --> 00:36:38.859 He speaks there, brothers, which of course means sisters as well. 00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:41.639 This is just the normal language of the time. 00:36:42.239 --> 00:36:45.719 But male and female Christians brought under that description. 00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:51.599 I want you to know, brothers, that I've often intended to come and see you, although I've been 00:36:51.599 --> 00:36:54.500 hindered that so far, have been prevented. 00:36:54.639 --> 00:36:57.319 He wants to bring encouragement to them. 00:36:57.900 --> 00:37:01.619 Verses 9 and 10, you find the same thing there. 00:37:02.079 --> 00:37:07.659 For God is my witness, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that 00:37:07.659 --> 00:37:11.839 some of God's will, by God's will I may succeed in coming to you. 00:37:12.239 --> 00:37:14.299 His heart is with these Roman Christians. 00:37:14.860 --> 00:37:16.179 He's identified with them. 00:37:16.179 --> 00:37:17.779 He wants to actually go and see them. 00:37:18.199 --> 00:37:23.859 He wants to benefit from their company, and he wants to present them with some things 00:37:23.859 --> 00:37:26.059 which will benefit them in the gospel. 00:37:26.579 --> 00:37:30.099 You see how he puts it here, verses 11 to 13. 00:37:31.139 --> 00:37:35.359 But you notice in verse 12 as well how he puts it. 00:37:35.739 --> 00:37:43.019 That is that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 00:37:43.019 --> 00:37:46.320 You see, he's saying this works in two directions. 00:37:47.159 --> 00:37:48.460 I want to come and see you. 00:37:48.539 --> 00:37:55.079 This is my urgent concern and desire, though I haven't been able to do it so far. 00:37:55.320 --> 00:37:56.679 This is still on my mind. 00:37:56.739 --> 00:37:57.820 This is what I want to do. 00:37:58.079 --> 00:38:03.599 And I want to meet with you, and I want to actually come and strengthen you by some spiritual 00:38:03.599 --> 00:38:09.679 gift, some way by which I can minister to you in fellowship that which will strengthen 00:38:09.679 --> 00:38:09.900 you. 00:38:09.900 --> 00:38:16.240 I mean, it's obviously some teaching, some further nurturing and things of the faith. 00:38:17.420 --> 00:38:18.500 No, he's never met them. 00:38:19.800 --> 00:38:22.300 He's never seen them in person, as far as we know. 00:38:23.360 --> 00:38:26.240 And yet here he is saying, you are my brothers. 00:38:26.400 --> 00:38:27.760 You are my family. 00:38:27.860 --> 00:38:29.099 You are my spiritual family. 00:38:29.460 --> 00:38:31.680 We belong together as the people of God. 00:38:32.320 --> 00:38:33.539 And I long to see you. 00:38:33.680 --> 00:38:38.000 And I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift. 00:38:38.000 --> 00:38:39.900 But you see, there's the other side to it. 00:38:40.400 --> 00:38:46.519 That is that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 00:38:46.699 --> 00:38:51.739 There, you see, is the interaction between Paul the apostle, Paul the great preacher of 00:38:51.739 --> 00:38:56.840 the gospel, Paul whose concern it is to have this gospel spread further throughout the world, 00:38:57.400 --> 00:39:03.179 Paul whose concern it is to impart some spiritual gift and help to these Christians in Rome. 00:39:03.179 --> 00:39:11.199 But he's saying, it works to my advantage as well, so that we may be mutually encouraged 00:39:11.199 --> 00:39:13.199 by each other's faith. 00:39:13.199 --> 00:39:16.179 What's going on here this evening? 00:39:17.859 --> 00:39:22.899 What is it that's actually happening as the gospel is being preached by me, a minister of 00:39:22.899 --> 00:39:28.980 the gospel, called by God to be a minister of the gospel to you, this congregation at this 00:39:28.980 --> 00:39:29.339 time? 00:39:29.639 --> 00:39:34.239 What is it that's happening when you as a congregation have come of yourselves desiringly 00:39:34.239 --> 00:39:39.919 and willingly under the preaching of the gospel to listen to what God has laid on my heart to set out? 00:39:40.879 --> 00:39:42.599 It's mutual encouragement. 00:39:44.339 --> 00:39:52.199 Because as we desire to be a means of encouragement to you under the gospel, so we benefit from that, 00:39:52.459 --> 00:39:56.859 from having you here, from seeing you here, from interacting with you here or elsewhere. 00:39:57.519 --> 00:40:03.199 That's the way the two-directional fellowship of God's people works under the gospel. 00:40:04.239 --> 00:40:12.079 That's why it's a great encouragement for me to see you here tonight, for me to see increasingly 00:40:12.079 --> 00:40:13.679 people coming to the gospel. 00:40:14.419 --> 00:40:22.719 I'm not saying that out of any sense of personal worth, out of any sort of pride in the matter 00:40:22.719 --> 00:40:23.219 at all. 00:40:23.459 --> 00:40:27.979 It's simply that this really is exactly as Paul is putting it here. 00:40:28.539 --> 00:40:30.739 There is a mutual encouragement. 00:40:30.739 --> 00:40:37.039 And I hope for you, I'm sure by God's blessing it is for you, a means of encouragement under 00:40:37.039 --> 00:40:42.459 the preaching of the gospel as it is for us who preach the gospel, to be encouraged by 00:40:42.459 --> 00:40:43.839 you in return. 00:40:44.019 --> 00:40:50.319 That's really, in essence, what being bonded together really is about. 00:40:51.379 --> 00:40:53.339 It's not just for the benefit of one side. 00:40:53.340 --> 00:40:54.760 It's two-way. 00:40:54.760 --> 00:40:54.860 It's two-way. 00:40:56.380 --> 00:41:02.120 And it's very difficult when it's not working the way it should, where there are places 00:41:02.120 --> 00:41:10.280 where people are just lax about coming to the gospel, where people are also seeking 00:41:10.280 --> 00:41:12.860 to preach the gospel but not faithful to the gospel. 00:41:12.860 --> 00:41:21.440 It's a mutual encouragement that ought always to be at the heart of gospel, fellowship, gospel 00:41:21.440 --> 00:41:23.300 meetings, gospel worship. 00:41:23.300 --> 00:41:30.320 And you know how it is when very often you go and visit somebody, particularly somebody 00:41:30.320 --> 00:41:35.200 who's housebound or in hospital, and though that's, of course, been curtailed for such 00:41:35.200 --> 00:41:38.260 a long time with COVID and the after effects of COVID. 00:41:38.340 --> 00:41:39.500 But you know yourselves what it's like. 00:41:39.560 --> 00:41:44.820 You go and visit somebody who doesn't see many people from one day to the next, and you 00:41:44.820 --> 00:41:47.620 go and you try and be an encouragement to them. 00:41:47.680 --> 00:41:48.660 That's what you want to do. 00:41:48.659 --> 00:41:54.019 But how often do we come back from these places, these visits, and say, well, I got more out 00:41:54.019 --> 00:41:55.019 of that than they did. 00:41:56.219 --> 00:41:59.119 I received such a blessing from that. 00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:03.039 Whatever they received, this is what it was like for me. 00:42:04.179 --> 00:42:10.199 And that's why we encourage one another in the way in which we encourage coming together 00:42:10.199 --> 00:42:15.159 and interacting with each other, as Paul says it here, that we may be mutually encouraged 00:42:15.159 --> 00:42:19.739 by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 00:42:20.799 --> 00:42:23.699 I thought he says, I am under obligation in verse 14. 00:42:24.179 --> 00:42:29.619 Here is the gospel people, a gospel people who are witnesses to Jesus in Rome, a gospel 00:42:29.619 --> 00:42:35.759 people who, along with Paul, come to be encouraged mutually by their interaction with each other. 00:42:36.219 --> 00:42:40.579 But thirdly, here's a gospel people where there's an obligation, he says. 00:42:40.579 --> 00:42:46.460 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 00:42:47.119 --> 00:42:51.539 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 00:42:52.340 --> 00:42:55.299 Now, what does he mean by being under obligation? 00:42:56.019 --> 00:43:00.039 And what does he mean by obligation to both Greeks and barbarians? 00:43:00.779 --> 00:43:03.779 Well, being under obligation really is just what it says. 00:43:04.239 --> 00:43:08.259 God has placed in his heart such a sense of obligation. 00:43:08.260 --> 00:43:13.100 It's not something that anyone has forced on him, and he's not really saying that God 00:43:13.100 --> 00:43:14.880 himself has forced this on him. 00:43:15.260 --> 00:43:19.900 He has come willingly through the call of God, as he says at the beginning, called to be an 00:43:19.900 --> 00:43:22.700 apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. 00:43:22.860 --> 00:43:27.820 Something in which Paul is so willingly engaged as we ought to be as well. 00:43:27.940 --> 00:43:29.060 He's not forced into it. 00:43:29.460 --> 00:43:34.900 It's not something of a constraint that's come about through some kind of legalistic way of 00:43:34.900 --> 00:43:35.760 approaching things. 00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:42.880 It's simply that Paul has his heart's desire set on preaching the gospel and wanting to 00:43:42.880 --> 00:43:44.220 go to Rome to do the same. 00:43:46.040 --> 00:43:51.440 And he's under obligation, he says, both to Greeks and to barbarians. 00:43:52.220 --> 00:43:57.140 And by that he means, certainly this comes into it at least, even if there's maybe some 00:43:57.140 --> 00:43:58.020 more to it than that. 00:43:58.019 --> 00:44:03.519 But I think he means both the cultured, that's the Greeks, of course, who can speak of themselves 00:44:03.519 --> 00:44:10.780 as being the very cultured people of the world, even in the Roman Empire time, and barbarians, 00:44:11.079 --> 00:44:17.159 people who can't say that of themselves, those who you might say are uncivilized. 00:44:17.780 --> 00:44:18.960 But this is what Paul is saying. 00:44:19.320 --> 00:44:24.440 It's both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, to the cultured and to the uncivilized. 00:44:24.440 --> 00:44:26.500 I am under obligation to both. 00:44:26.840 --> 00:44:29.619 I am under obligation to preach the gospel to both. 00:44:30.139 --> 00:44:32.940 In other words, Paul is saying, it doesn't matter what kind of people I'm facing. 00:44:33.260 --> 00:44:36.159 My concern is to preach the gospel to them. 00:44:36.420 --> 00:44:41.579 My concern is to deliver the message of Christ to them, Christ the Savior, Christ crucified, 00:44:41.840 --> 00:44:43.059 Christ risen from the dead. 00:44:45.200 --> 00:44:48.679 What a great lesson and challenge there is in that for ourselves. 00:44:48.679 --> 00:44:54.219 We don't actually go out, this is not just applicable to preachers of the gospel or those 00:44:54.219 --> 00:44:58.799 that are preaching in gospels, it's applicable to a congregation of people like yourselves. 00:44:59.739 --> 00:45:05.739 Because tonight, we are under obligation, as we are called by God to be his church, his 00:45:05.739 --> 00:45:10.799 believing people in this world, we're under obligation to actually deliver that gospel to 00:45:10.799 --> 00:45:12.079 the world in which we live. 00:45:12.399 --> 00:45:17.079 And it doesn't matter what kind of people surround us and how many differences there may be between 00:45:17.079 --> 00:45:23.759 one person and another, whether they're very cultured people or maybe even uncivilized people. 00:45:25.039 --> 00:45:26.619 The burden is the same. 00:45:27.400 --> 00:45:28.799 The concern is the same. 00:45:29.480 --> 00:45:31.380 The obligation is the same. 00:45:31.380 --> 00:45:41.119 Martin Lloyd-Jones, famous preacher in London, at one time was, you remember, he was actually 00:45:41.119 --> 00:45:46.820 a medical doctor, a very famous Harley Street doctor, but he gave that up, or God had called 00:45:46.820 --> 00:45:51.860 him from that to become a preacher of the gospel, firstly in Wales, but then in London for most 00:45:51.860 --> 00:45:52.519 of his ministry. 00:45:52.519 --> 00:45:59.400 And he tells about how on one occasion he was asked by a large group of medical students, 00:46:00.039 --> 00:46:05.900 knowing his background, of course, to come and speak to them, to deliver a talk to them. 00:46:06.639 --> 00:46:12.800 And they expected him to speak on something really philosophical, something very grand in 00:46:12.800 --> 00:46:16.079 the way of an intellectual treatise of some kind. 00:46:16.079 --> 00:46:22.039 And when he got to the place, the hall was full of people, and he says, I simply delivered 00:46:22.039 --> 00:46:24.340 the basic message of the gospel. 00:46:26.259 --> 00:46:32.679 Their need of Christ, their being sinners, their need of salvation, and that Christ was 00:46:32.679 --> 00:46:33.139 the Savior. 00:46:33.980 --> 00:46:39.299 And of course, that didn't please many of those who were actually there to hear the doctor 00:46:39.299 --> 00:46:40.900 come and speak to them. 00:46:40.900 --> 00:46:45.360 They expected something very different to that plain, ordinary, you might say, gospel 00:46:45.360 --> 00:46:46.300 message. 00:46:48.220 --> 00:46:53.300 But he brought them through, thinking about Christ and the reason Christ came into the 00:46:53.300 --> 00:46:53.639 world. 00:46:55.260 --> 00:47:01.579 But then he, towards the end, he said to them that Christ would be coming again as the judge 00:47:01.579 --> 00:47:06.780 of the world, that there was such a thing as eternity and judgment to come. 00:47:08.400 --> 00:47:10.700 And because they were medical students, this is the language he used. 00:47:10.699 --> 00:47:18.239 He said, that will not be a post-mortem, but a living examination. 00:47:20.139 --> 00:47:26.059 Not a post-mortem, what you do on a dead body, but a living examination. 00:47:26.719 --> 00:47:31.279 An examination of the living in eternity in the judgment of God. 00:47:31.559 --> 00:47:32.879 That's what it is for ourselves. 00:47:33.199 --> 00:47:36.319 You know, there are many people in the world tonight, and you have a great advantage over 00:47:36.320 --> 00:47:39.760 them, knowing that what they believe is not in fact true. 00:47:40.580 --> 00:47:44.960 They believe that there is nothing but this world, nothing but this life, nothing beyond 00:47:44.960 --> 00:47:49.260 death, nothing at all to confront or to worry about beyond death itself. 00:47:50.580 --> 00:47:55.360 And as Martin Lloyd-Jones put it, the Bible is telling us, yes, there will be an examination. 00:47:56.480 --> 00:47:57.780 Yes, there will be a judgment. 00:47:57.780 --> 00:48:02.100 Yes, there will be a sifting out of our life, everything that we have done. 00:48:02.440 --> 00:48:03.620 God in his judgment. 00:48:04.040 --> 00:48:05.519 Jesus on the judgment throne. 00:48:05.519 --> 00:48:11.500 And as Martin Lloyd-Jones put it, it's going to be a living examination. 00:48:12.159 --> 00:48:17.360 You will not be unconscious, nor will I, or dead when that is being done. 00:48:18.639 --> 00:48:21.239 But a living examination. 00:48:21.239 --> 00:48:28.059 That is why the gospel is so crucial, because it's the gospel that brings us the message 00:48:28.059 --> 00:48:35.799 of salvation to deliver us as that judgment is in prospect from the wrath of God, which 00:48:35.799 --> 00:48:39.859 Paul goes on to speak about, of course, from verse 18 all the way through the next couple 00:48:39.859 --> 00:48:40.859 of chapters especially. 00:48:42.359 --> 00:48:46.559 So there it is for us tonight, the gospel people mentioned in these verses. 00:48:46.559 --> 00:48:54.079 And tonight that's what he's calling us to be, or he's calling you to be, witnesses to 00:48:54.079 --> 00:48:58.820 the gospel, witnesses to Christ, witnesses to salvation in Christ. 00:48:59.519 --> 00:49:05.779 To be a spiritual family, to relate to one another in which we are brothers and sisters in the Lord. 00:49:05.880 --> 00:49:09.679 And for that, of course, we need to be in Christ to begin with. 00:49:10.360 --> 00:49:16.119 You need to have Jesus for yourself before you can relate meaningfully to others who say, 00:49:16.559 --> 00:49:18.380 that Jesus is their Lord too. 00:49:19.460 --> 00:49:20.940 Well, there's one of the great questions. 00:49:21.059 --> 00:49:24.860 Again, it comes up, of course, and it ought to come up before us every time. 00:49:25.480 --> 00:49:26.420 Am I saved? 00:49:27.759 --> 00:49:33.679 Do I belong to the spiritual family, even though I belong to a gospel congregation? 00:49:33.679 --> 00:49:39.759 Am I a witness to Christ and to the gospel of Christ? 00:49:39.760 --> 00:49:51.340 Do I really find in myself that same spirit that the apostle had being under obligation 00:49:51.340 --> 00:49:54.820 to bring the gospel to the world of my day? 00:49:55.660 --> 00:49:58.260 Do you sense that obligation in yourself? 00:49:59.580 --> 00:50:05.060 Because there are many professing Christians that don't, or don't to any great extent. 00:50:05.059 --> 00:50:13.440 Well, tonight, all of us here should seek to be ourselves under obligation, that God would 00:50:13.440 --> 00:50:20.659 place us under obligation and a sense of obligation increasingly to bring that gospel message of 00:50:20.659 --> 00:50:24.920 salvation to such a needy world around us. 00:50:25.779 --> 00:50:27.799 But he goes on to speak about gospel power. 00:50:27.960 --> 00:50:30.860 I need to be fairly short with this. 00:50:30.860 --> 00:50:31.720 There's a gospel power. 00:50:32.140 --> 00:50:36.460 Verse 16, for he says, as he says, I'm eager to preach the gospel to you also in Rome, 00:50:36.539 --> 00:50:42.200 for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone, 00:50:42.579 --> 00:50:44.620 to everyone who believes. 00:50:44.620 --> 00:50:50.559 I think about Rome again, its history, its culture, its place in the world of Paul's day, 00:50:51.039 --> 00:50:53.120 the capital of the empire, all that we've said before. 00:50:53.800 --> 00:50:56.480 And how does the gospel compare with that? 00:50:56.480 --> 00:51:03.219 How would the people generally in Rome or in Paul's day throughout the empire have compared 00:51:03.219 --> 00:51:07.960 what he was bringing in the message of the gospel to the great and cultured world that 00:51:07.960 --> 00:51:10.000 they themselves had inhabited all these centuries? 00:51:11.860 --> 00:51:18.980 Well, they would regard the gospel as really an inferior intruder into that world of cultured 00:51:18.980 --> 00:51:20.699 Greek and Roman philosophy. 00:51:20.699 --> 00:51:24.139 And it's still the case. 00:51:25.379 --> 00:51:32.219 And it will always be the case because the gospel challenges the world's view of itself 00:51:32.219 --> 00:51:34.059 and the world's view of God. 00:51:34.819 --> 00:51:40.139 And the gospel challenges the closing of your heart against salvation in Christ. 00:51:41.139 --> 00:51:48.379 It will always be regarded by the world, by the ungodly, by the powers that resist the gospel 00:51:48.380 --> 00:51:51.599 as an inferior intruder into the matter. 00:51:52.599 --> 00:51:57.180 And indeed, in our own island, you'll find people to this day of the view that the gospel 00:51:57.180 --> 00:52:03.340 coming to the islands was really a tragedy, that it destroyed the culture of the time. 00:52:04.019 --> 00:52:10.920 And of course, the culture of the time was paganism, our own island version of paganism. 00:52:10.920 --> 00:52:15.659 But that's what happens. 00:52:16.880 --> 00:52:21.300 I'm not saying the gospel necessarily destroys any particular culture. 00:52:22.340 --> 00:52:26.360 And we shouldn't think in those terms wherever we bring the gospel. 00:52:27.059 --> 00:52:31.740 It doesn't mean that every aspect of that culture needs to be wiped out, needs to be destroyed. 00:52:32.559 --> 00:52:35.619 But the gospel still needs to be faithfully set forth. 00:52:35.619 --> 00:52:42.619 But salvation in Christ is still the central core element of what is proclaimed. 00:52:44.079 --> 00:52:49.819 And the crucial question really for us, whatever generation we belong to, whatever civilization we belong to, 00:52:50.219 --> 00:52:53.739 the crucial question is a matter of righteousness. 00:52:54.980 --> 00:52:59.619 Because we can be the most cultured people in the world according to worldly standard 00:52:59.619 --> 00:53:04.199 and still be unrighteous and still be ungodly in God's eyes. 00:53:05.219 --> 00:53:06.599 That's really the crucial issue. 00:53:07.339 --> 00:53:09.339 How can I be right with God? 00:53:10.139 --> 00:53:14.059 How can I be righteous, accounted righteous by God? 00:53:14.859 --> 00:53:20.239 I may have everything that the world itself regards as necessary for progress and so on, 00:53:20.579 --> 00:53:24.359 but this is my big problem, that I am unrighteous, 00:53:25.199 --> 00:53:26.679 that I am a lost sinner, 00:53:27.679 --> 00:53:29.279 that I am ungodly, 00:53:29.619 --> 00:53:33.779 that I need what I have in Christ 00:53:33.779 --> 00:53:36.319 for my life to be turned around. 00:53:38.440 --> 00:53:39.819 That's what Paul is meaning 00:53:39.819 --> 00:53:42.559 by not being ashamed of the gospel, 00:53:43.059 --> 00:53:46.359 for it is the power of God unto salvation. 00:53:48.039 --> 00:53:49.880 And you know, one of the big problems that 00:53:49.880 --> 00:53:54.139 we actually face in trying to present the gospel to the world of our day 00:53:54.139 --> 00:53:59.079 is that not only does that world out there not know much about the gospel, 00:53:59.619 --> 00:54:00.559 but it doesn't care. 00:54:01.639 --> 00:54:05.699 It doesn't really care at all about the gospel or knowing what the gospel is 00:54:05.699 --> 00:54:08.039 or anything to do with Jesus or with God. 00:54:08.039 --> 00:54:13.639 And if there is a shred of care, it's really in terms of getting rid of it. 00:54:13.639 --> 00:54:19.239 That's why we need the gospel and need to have confidence in the gospel. 00:54:19.239 --> 00:54:23.419 He says here, it is the power of God unto salvation. 00:54:23.899 --> 00:54:25.859 And he's talking here about the gospel itself, 00:54:26.219 --> 00:54:29.419 the message of Christ crucified and salvation in him, 00:54:29.619 --> 00:54:30.399 the good news. 00:54:30.659 --> 00:54:34.419 It is itself the power of God unto salvation. 00:54:34.519 --> 00:54:38.259 In other words, it's what God uses to bring people to know him 00:54:38.260 --> 00:54:40.260 and having brought them to know him, 00:54:40.500 --> 00:54:42.620 to feed them, to nurture them spiritually. 00:54:44.680 --> 00:54:48.200 That's why we must maintain confidence in the gospel. 00:54:48.360 --> 00:54:54.780 You see, here is Paul facing all of these centuries-long philosophies 00:54:54.780 --> 00:54:59.460 that have been part of human behavior and human thinking 00:54:59.460 --> 00:55:02.000 all the way back into time. 00:55:02.000 --> 00:55:06.099 And here he is with the Roman Empire now in charge. 00:55:06.940 --> 00:55:08.280 Nothing of that has changed. 00:55:09.139 --> 00:55:10.840 One empire building on the next. 00:55:12.599 --> 00:55:18.280 This massive, massive edifice of thinking and of philosophy and of teaching 00:55:18.280 --> 00:55:23.460 that's now being confronted by what paganism itself sees 00:55:23.460 --> 00:55:26.360 as the inferior intruder of the gospel. 00:55:27.940 --> 00:55:30.480 Wouldn't you think Paul would be somewhat embarrassed 00:55:30.480 --> 00:55:34.320 to bring into that world of Roman thinking 00:55:34.320 --> 00:55:36.340 following Greek thinking before it? 00:55:36.900 --> 00:55:39.139 Wouldn't you think that Paul would be somewhat embarrassed 00:55:39.139 --> 00:55:42.019 to actually bring a message that simply said, 00:55:42.019 --> 00:55:44.079 here is the hope of mankind 00:55:44.079 --> 00:55:48.059 in a man crucified on the cross at Calvary, 00:55:48.519 --> 00:55:50.820 risen from the dead, ascended to glory, 00:55:51.179 --> 00:55:53.179 coming to judge the world at the last day. 00:55:54.079 --> 00:55:56.059 That's far from it, Paul is saying. 00:55:56.380 --> 00:55:58.740 I am not ashamed of the gospel. 00:55:58.739 --> 00:56:00.559 Why is he not ashamed of it? 00:56:00.799 --> 00:56:05.079 Because small as it may seem, insignificant as it may seem, 00:56:05.379 --> 00:56:06.899 compared to the might of Rome, 00:56:07.399 --> 00:56:10.699 it is the power of God unto salvation. 00:56:11.359 --> 00:56:16.839 Paul is not saying the gospel itself is about the power of God. 00:56:17.199 --> 00:56:20.619 He doesn't say it's telling us about the power of God. 00:56:20.879 --> 00:56:22.459 It is the power of God. 00:56:22.460 --> 00:56:25.920 It's the instrument that God uses 00:56:25.920 --> 00:56:28.940 to bring people to know him, 00:56:30.099 --> 00:56:33.840 to bend in willing obedience to him, 00:56:35.079 --> 00:56:37.139 to come to be his servants, 00:56:37.699 --> 00:56:38.800 to be saved. 00:56:40.800 --> 00:56:43.619 And it is unto salvation. 00:56:43.980 --> 00:56:46.460 You know yourselves what salvation means. 00:56:46.460 --> 00:56:53.980 It means the very deliverance from that which came from our fall in Adam, 00:56:54.539 --> 00:56:56.460 from our lostness, our sinfulness. 00:56:57.460 --> 00:57:00.880 There's a powerful reversal of all that happened there. 00:57:02.019 --> 00:57:03.940 It's deliverance from sin, 00:57:04.119 --> 00:57:05.300 from the guilt of sin, 00:57:06.199 --> 00:57:09.559 into righteousness and the hope of heaven. 00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:12.880 Because God never delivers from one thing 00:57:12.880 --> 00:57:15.059 without delivering you into something alternative. 00:57:16.480 --> 00:57:18.000 Delivering from sin, 00:57:18.680 --> 00:57:19.619 from death, 00:57:19.800 --> 00:57:20.420 from hell, 00:57:20.579 --> 00:57:23.380 from all that's associated with our fallenness. 00:57:24.780 --> 00:57:27.940 Salvation is deliverance from all that 00:57:27.940 --> 00:57:30.340 and unto or into 00:57:30.340 --> 00:57:33.460 the life that is in Christ, 00:57:34.039 --> 00:57:37.200 the life that heaven will be for his people. 00:57:39.660 --> 00:57:42.019 And that's, friends, why the gospel is crucial. 00:57:43.599 --> 00:57:45.460 Not only is the gospel crucial, 00:57:46.140 --> 00:57:48.180 but it's crucial to maintain the gospel 00:57:48.180 --> 00:57:49.420 as God gave it to us. 00:57:49.460 --> 00:57:51.720 You see, that's why Paul was so annoyed 00:57:51.720 --> 00:57:53.039 with the Galatians. 00:57:54.059 --> 00:57:55.840 Because they had changed the terms 00:57:55.840 --> 00:57:57.480 to some extent, at least, 00:57:57.599 --> 00:57:58.780 to a serious extent, 00:57:58.860 --> 00:57:59.880 they had changed the terms 00:57:59.880 --> 00:58:02.039 of what God had given them in the gospel. 00:58:02.039 --> 00:58:03.800 What Paul himself had delivered 00:58:03.800 --> 00:58:05.220 by his preaching of the gospel. 00:58:05.579 --> 00:58:06.700 Because they had altered 00:58:06.700 --> 00:58:09.460 how a person comes to be right with God. 00:58:09.559 --> 00:58:10.720 Yes, Jesus was mentioned. 00:58:11.119 --> 00:58:12.640 So also was good works. 00:58:13.480 --> 00:58:14.340 Your own ability, 00:58:14.599 --> 00:58:17.720 your own righteousness, 00:58:18.000 --> 00:58:19.460 what you're able to do yourself. 00:58:20.220 --> 00:58:21.740 You add that to what's in Jesus. 00:58:22.260 --> 00:58:22.760 Paul is saying, 00:58:23.400 --> 00:58:24.519 that's not the gospel. 00:58:26.039 --> 00:58:27.420 Because the gospel is 00:58:27.420 --> 00:58:29.420 for those who can say of themselves 00:58:29.420 --> 00:58:32.079 and to whom God has brought the conviction, 00:58:32.619 --> 00:58:34.200 I have no hope in myself. 00:58:34.199 --> 00:58:37.899 And I can never have hope in myself 00:58:37.899 --> 00:58:39.019 or through myself 00:58:39.019 --> 00:58:41.639 as long as I'm a sinner unsaved 00:58:41.639 --> 00:58:43.259 and I will be a sinner unsaved 00:58:43.259 --> 00:58:44.799 until Christ saves me. 00:58:44.800 --> 00:58:47.760 And that's why he's saying, 00:58:48.340 --> 00:58:50.039 I'm not ashamed of the gospel. 00:58:50.480 --> 00:58:52.060 But it's the power of God 00:58:52.060 --> 00:58:54.060 unto salvation. 00:58:55.140 --> 00:58:56.700 Friends, we are under obligation 00:58:56.700 --> 00:58:58.460 to bring the gospel 00:58:58.460 --> 00:58:59.440 to the world of the day. 00:58:59.519 --> 00:59:00.980 But we are also under obligation 00:59:00.980 --> 00:59:02.880 to keep this gospel 00:59:02.880 --> 00:59:04.880 as God delivered it to us. 00:59:04.880 --> 00:59:06.780 I don't need to tell you, 00:59:07.099 --> 00:59:08.559 I've mentioned it often enough anyway, 00:59:09.300 --> 00:59:10.660 that throughout our own nation 00:59:10.660 --> 00:59:11.539 and throughout the world, 00:59:12.200 --> 00:59:13.960 you'll find many churches, 00:59:14.140 --> 00:59:14.740 many groups 00:59:14.740 --> 00:59:16.780 who have altered 00:59:16.780 --> 00:59:18.579 the message of the gospel 00:59:18.579 --> 00:59:20.340 to suit the culture of the day. 00:59:20.340 --> 00:59:23.539 who are seeking to import 00:59:23.539 --> 00:59:24.760 and have imported 00:59:24.760 --> 00:59:26.360 many of the things 00:59:26.360 --> 00:59:28.079 which the world sees as essential, 00:59:29.260 --> 00:59:30.860 whether it's in human relationships 00:59:30.860 --> 00:59:32.320 or other matters 00:59:32.320 --> 00:59:33.820 that the world thinks, 00:59:34.180 --> 00:59:35.519 now that's how we have to live 00:59:35.519 --> 00:59:36.480 and how we have to think. 00:59:37.740 --> 00:59:39.039 And so, sadly, 00:59:40.380 --> 00:59:43.400 some churches, some groups 00:59:43.400 --> 00:59:45.420 have actually departed 00:59:45.420 --> 00:59:46.920 from the gospel in its purity. 00:59:48.380 --> 00:59:50.039 We must never do that. 00:59:51.340 --> 00:59:53.420 However much we may feel 00:59:53.420 --> 00:59:54.640 the challenge of the world, 00:59:55.579 --> 00:59:57.960 however small we may feel ourselves 00:59:57.960 --> 01:00:00.860 to be against that great philosophy 01:00:00.860 --> 01:00:02.180 out there of worldliness 01:00:02.180 --> 01:00:04.420 that has built on millennia 01:00:04.420 --> 01:00:06.120 of unbelief and ungodliness, 01:00:06.760 --> 01:00:09.300 it is still the power of God 01:00:09.300 --> 01:00:10.220 unto salvation 01:00:10.220 --> 01:00:11.519 to everyone who believes. 01:00:11.600 --> 01:00:12.720 Don't ever forget that. 01:00:13.579 --> 01:00:14.680 Don't ever let the devil 01:00:14.680 --> 01:00:16.019 or the world take you away 01:00:16.019 --> 01:00:17.079 from that conviction. 01:00:18.320 --> 01:00:19.260 What we long to see 01:00:19.260 --> 01:00:21.600 is not a new form of the gospel, 01:00:22.020 --> 01:00:23.420 but the power of God 01:00:23.420 --> 01:00:24.520 through the gospel 01:00:24.520 --> 01:00:26.340 changing people's lives 01:00:26.340 --> 01:00:28.620 because this gospel 01:00:28.620 --> 01:00:30.900 is the power of God 01:00:30.900 --> 01:00:32.440 unto salvation. 01:00:32.640 --> 01:00:33.240 And it is also 01:00:33.240 --> 01:00:35.260 to everyone who believes. 01:00:35.780 --> 01:00:37.300 He's not content just to say 01:00:37.300 --> 01:00:39.600 this gospel is the power of God 01:00:39.600 --> 01:00:40.720 for salvation, 01:00:40.880 --> 01:00:41.760 but it's the power of God 01:00:41.760 --> 01:00:43.780 to everyone who believes, 01:00:43.780 --> 01:00:46.140 whether Greek or Jew 01:00:46.140 --> 01:00:48.340 or Gentile or whoever. 01:00:49.340 --> 01:00:52.780 It is to everyone who believes. 01:00:52.940 --> 01:00:55.200 And there's again the crucial issue 01:00:55.200 --> 01:00:57.840 in terms of our personal relationship 01:00:57.840 --> 01:00:58.920 to this salvation 01:00:58.920 --> 01:01:00.940 and to this God, 01:01:01.500 --> 01:01:05.640 the importance of faith in Christ. 01:01:05.639 --> 01:01:08.059 for you to have your trust 01:01:08.059 --> 01:01:09.159 in Him, 01:01:09.920 --> 01:01:11.500 to have Him as foundational 01:01:11.500 --> 01:01:13.960 to your life and hope. 01:01:15.239 --> 01:01:16.679 You must be able to say, 01:01:17.359 --> 01:01:18.879 and I must be able to say, 01:01:19.219 --> 01:01:21.679 I am not ashamed of the gospel, 01:01:22.079 --> 01:01:23.559 for it is the power of God 01:01:23.559 --> 01:01:24.420 for salvation 01:01:24.420 --> 01:01:25.980 to me, 01:01:26.599 --> 01:01:27.239 a believer, 01:01:27.239 --> 01:01:29.559 to me, 01:01:29.739 --> 01:01:30.239 a Christian, 01:01:30.939 --> 01:01:32.359 to me, 01:01:32.979 --> 01:01:34.000 a saved sinner. 01:01:34.959 --> 01:01:36.179 Can you say that tonight 01:01:36.179 --> 01:01:38.019 of yourself? 01:01:40.079 --> 01:01:41.479 Under this gospel, 01:01:42.519 --> 01:01:44.179 have you not yet come 01:01:44.179 --> 01:01:47.919 to close in with Christ 01:01:47.919 --> 01:01:50.139 in the offer of salvation 01:01:50.139 --> 01:01:51.559 that He brings to you 01:01:51.559 --> 01:01:52.199 in the gospel? 01:01:53.919 --> 01:01:55.819 Do you know Him for yourself 01:01:55.820 --> 01:01:58.300 rather than just know Him 01:01:58.300 --> 01:02:00.980 in an outward or formal fashion 01:02:00.980 --> 01:02:02.200 in the teaching of the gospel? 01:02:03.320 --> 01:02:04.400 Friend, if you're here tonight, 01:02:05.260 --> 01:02:06.300 and not yet saved, 01:02:06.360 --> 01:02:07.200 and I say it's wonderful 01:02:07.200 --> 01:02:08.780 to see all of these children 01:02:08.780 --> 01:02:09.860 here tonight as well. 01:02:11.039 --> 01:02:12.039 But this is really 01:02:12.039 --> 01:02:13.420 for your children as well 01:02:13.420 --> 01:02:14.580 as for all these adults 01:02:14.580 --> 01:02:16.400 so important in your life, 01:02:16.760 --> 01:02:17.980 even as a young child, 01:02:19.280 --> 01:02:20.300 to be able to say, 01:02:21.440 --> 01:02:22.300 I'm not ashamed 01:02:22.300 --> 01:02:24.019 of this message of salvation 01:02:24.019 --> 01:02:26.280 because it's all about Jesus 01:02:26.280 --> 01:02:28.320 and Jesus is mine 01:02:28.320 --> 01:02:29.980 and I am His. 01:02:31.800 --> 01:02:34.219 That is what Paul is saying. 01:02:36.039 --> 01:02:36.519 And friends, 01:02:36.579 --> 01:02:37.280 we don't have 01:02:37.280 --> 01:02:39.340 an awful lot of time 01:02:39.340 --> 01:02:40.400 available to us. 01:02:42.000 --> 01:02:43.599 You remember how Jesus spoke 01:02:43.599 --> 01:02:47.280 to those in John chapter 12 01:02:47.280 --> 01:02:48.199 that were listening to 01:02:48.199 --> 01:02:49.019 and then coming towards 01:02:49.019 --> 01:02:50.980 the end of His public ministry 01:02:50.980 --> 01:02:53.380 in terms of John's presentation of it 01:02:53.380 --> 01:02:56.159 where as the light of the world, 01:02:56.280 --> 01:02:57.900 He had proclaimed Himself 01:02:57.900 --> 01:02:59.179 to be the light of the world 01:02:59.179 --> 01:02:59.679 and saying, 01:03:00.240 --> 01:03:01.340 whoever believes in Me 01:03:01.340 --> 01:03:02.900 believes not in Me 01:03:02.900 --> 01:03:04.199 but in Him who sent Me. 01:03:04.260 --> 01:03:05.079 Whoever sees Me 01:03:05.079 --> 01:03:06.059 sees Him who sent Me. 01:03:06.460 --> 01:03:08.019 I have come into the world 01:03:08.019 --> 01:03:09.019 as light 01:03:09.019 --> 01:03:11.019 so that whoever believes in Me 01:03:11.019 --> 01:03:12.360 may not remain in darkness. 01:03:13.179 --> 01:03:14.599 If anyone hears My words 01:03:14.599 --> 01:03:15.659 and does not keep them, 01:03:16.039 --> 01:03:17.159 I do not judge him 01:03:17.159 --> 01:03:18.219 for I did not come 01:03:18.219 --> 01:03:19.019 to judge the world 01:03:19.019 --> 01:03:20.259 but to save the world. 01:03:22.000 --> 01:03:22.920 And this is what He went on 01:03:22.920 --> 01:03:23.339 to say, 01:03:24.460 --> 01:03:26.259 while you have the light, 01:03:27.239 --> 01:03:28.279 believe in the light 01:03:28.279 --> 01:03:29.879 that you may be 01:03:29.879 --> 01:03:31.960 the children of light. 01:03:33.179 --> 01:03:34.339 And that's what He said earlier 01:03:34.339 --> 01:03:35.399 in the chapter. 01:03:35.559 --> 01:03:36.460 While you have the light, 01:03:37.339 --> 01:03:38.440 believe in the light 01:03:38.440 --> 01:03:39.980 that you may become 01:03:39.980 --> 01:03:41.440 the children, 01:03:41.599 --> 01:03:43.339 the sons of light. 01:03:43.340 --> 01:03:45.539 You know, 01:03:45.559 --> 01:03:46.320 in the wintertime 01:03:46.320 --> 01:03:48.420 when you walk out of church, 01:03:50.140 --> 01:03:51.960 the outside light's still on 01:03:51.960 --> 01:03:58.740 and the doors are closed. 01:04:00.420 --> 01:04:01.079 And you might ask, 01:04:01.120 --> 01:04:02.280 well, why is the light still on? 01:04:03.760 --> 01:04:04.340 The answer, 01:04:04.480 --> 01:04:05.800 we will because it's on a timer. 01:04:07.260 --> 01:04:09.079 And the timer in its own time 01:04:09.079 --> 01:04:09.900 that's been set 01:04:09.900 --> 01:04:11.900 will switch off the light 01:04:11.900 --> 01:04:12.880 and then you've got darkness. 01:04:13.340 --> 01:04:17.019 The gospel light 01:04:17.019 --> 01:04:17.940 is on a timer. 01:04:18.900 --> 01:04:20.340 As far as I'm concerned, 01:04:20.960 --> 01:04:22.220 as far as you're concerned. 01:04:23.440 --> 01:04:25.019 Whatever it is for you tonight, 01:04:25.960 --> 01:04:27.519 that timer is going to kick in 01:04:27.519 --> 01:04:28.860 one of these times. 01:04:30.240 --> 01:04:31.700 And the light will go out. 01:04:33.019 --> 01:04:33.980 And Christ will no longer 01:04:33.980 --> 01:04:34.680 be available 01:04:34.680 --> 01:04:37.440 if you haven't come 01:04:37.440 --> 01:04:39.240 to receive Him 01:04:39.240 --> 01:04:41.100 in this life. 01:04:41.099 --> 01:04:42.440 please, 01:04:42.900 --> 01:04:43.420 please, 01:04:43.719 --> 01:04:45.019 don't let the light 01:04:45.019 --> 01:04:46.119 go out on your life 01:04:46.119 --> 01:04:49.799 without Jesus Christ 01:04:49.799 --> 01:04:51.279 as your Savior. 01:04:51.920 --> 01:04:52.480 Let's pray. 01:04:54.659 --> 01:04:55.139 Lord, 01:04:55.199 --> 01:04:55.599 our God, 01:04:55.659 --> 01:04:56.659 we thank you tonight 01:04:56.659 --> 01:04:57.880 that you are 01:04:57.880 --> 01:04:58.920 the light of the world 01:04:58.920 --> 01:05:00.659 who has come into this world 01:05:00.659 --> 01:05:02.119 that we might not abide 01:05:02.119 --> 01:05:02.659 in darkness 01:05:02.659 --> 01:05:04.819 but have the light of life. 01:05:04.820 --> 01:05:07.340 we thank you for your people. 01:05:08.120 --> 01:05:08.960 We thank you for 01:05:08.960 --> 01:05:10.640 the interaction we have 01:05:10.640 --> 01:05:11.700 with your own family 01:05:11.700 --> 01:05:12.420 in this world 01:05:12.420 --> 01:05:14.320 in the way that we are able 01:05:14.320 --> 01:05:15.400 mutually to encourage 01:05:15.400 --> 01:05:15.940 one another. 01:05:16.920 --> 01:05:17.820 We thank you too 01:05:17.820 --> 01:05:18.580 for the power 01:05:18.580 --> 01:05:20.740 of the Lord Jesus Christ 01:05:20.740 --> 01:05:21.220 Himself, 01:05:22.220 --> 01:05:23.140 for the power of God 01:05:23.140 --> 01:05:23.740 that works 01:05:23.740 --> 01:05:24.700 through the gospel. 01:05:24.699 --> 01:05:26.219 and we pray, 01:05:26.399 --> 01:05:26.639 O Lord, 01:05:26.719 --> 01:05:27.379 that that will be 01:05:27.379 --> 01:05:28.879 increasingly our experience 01:05:28.879 --> 01:05:30.480 in this congregation 01:05:30.480 --> 01:05:31.299 and beyond. 01:05:32.099 --> 01:05:33.119 That we may know indeed 01:05:33.119 --> 01:05:34.139 with our own conviction 01:05:34.139 --> 01:05:36.039 that this indeed 01:05:36.039 --> 01:05:36.839 is the gospel 01:05:36.839 --> 01:05:38.659 that is the power of God 01:05:38.659 --> 01:05:39.500 unto salvation 01:05:39.500 --> 01:05:41.779 to everyone who believes. 01:05:42.559 --> 01:05:43.219 Hear us now, 01:05:43.279 --> 01:05:43.599 we pray, 01:05:43.719 --> 01:05:44.639 for Jesus' sake. 01:05:45.059 --> 01:05:45.419 Amen. 01:05:48.199 --> 01:05:49.259 We're going to conclude 01:05:49.259 --> 01:05:50.139 our worship this evening 01:05:50.139 --> 01:05:53.500 singing in Psalm 108. 01:05:54.699 --> 01:05:55.719 Psalm 108, 01:05:55.960 --> 01:05:56.599 this is in the 01:05:56.599 --> 01:05:57.480 Sing Psalms version 01:05:57.480 --> 01:05:59.879 on page 146. 01:06:01.599 --> 01:06:03.119 Singing verses 1 to 5, 01:06:03.219 --> 01:06:03.759 the tune is 01:06:03.759 --> 01:06:04.739 High for it all. 01:06:05.899 --> 01:06:06.699 O Lord God, 01:06:06.779 --> 01:06:07.980 my heart is steadfast 01:06:07.980 --> 01:06:09.859 and with all my soul 01:06:09.859 --> 01:06:10.460 I'll sing. 01:06:11.019 --> 01:06:11.739 Harp and lyre 01:06:11.739 --> 01:06:12.439 I will awaken 01:06:12.439 --> 01:06:13.199 and my song 01:06:13.199 --> 01:06:15.339 the dawn will bring. 01:06:15.439 --> 01:06:16.179 Psalm 108, 01:06:16.299 --> 01:06:17.559 verses 1 to 5. 01:06:17.559 --> 01:06:24.619 O Lord God, 01:06:24.619 --> 01:06:28.619 my heart is steadfast 01:06:28.619 --> 01:06:34.179 and with all my soul 01:06:34.179 --> 01:06:36.099 I'll sing. 01:06:36.099 --> 01:06:39.719 Harp and lyre 01:06:39.719 --> 01:06:42.779 I will awaken 01:06:42.779 --> 01:06:46.779 and my soul 01:06:46.779 --> 01:06:50.919 the dawn will ring. 01:06:50.919 --> 01:06:54.819 Lord, my God 01:06:54.819 --> 01:06:59.079 among the nations 01:06:59.079 --> 01:07:06.799 I will ever give you praise 01:07:06.799 --> 01:07:14.860 In the midst of all the heroes 01:07:14.860 --> 01:07:23.019 I will sing of you always 01:07:23.019 --> 01:07:31.480 For your steadfast love is boundless 01:07:31.480 --> 01:07:38.980 Greater than the heavens high 01:07:38.980 --> 01:07:43.980 And your faithfulness 01:07:43.980 --> 01:07:47.000 And your faithfulness towards us 01:07:47.000 --> 01:07:53.980 Reaches even to the sky 01:07:53.980 --> 01:08:01.980 Far above the highest heavens 01:08:01.980 --> 01:08:10.240 Be exalted, O my God 01:08:10.240 --> 01:08:17.979 And through all the earth around us 01:08:18.500 --> 01:08:25.979 Let your glory spread our God 01:08:25.979 --> 01:08:29.600 If you allow me to get to the main door 01:08:29.600 --> 01:08:30.779 please after the benediction 01:08:30.779 --> 01:08:31.960 Thank you. 01:08:32.579 --> 01:08:34.879 Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ 01:08:34.879 --> 01:08:36.319 The love of God the Father 01:08:36.319 --> 01:08:38.519 And the communion of the Holy Spirit 01:08:38.519 --> 01:08:40.899 Be with you now and evermore 01:08:40.899 --> 01:08:41.379 Amen