Now we're going to begin worship singing in Psalm 108, that's on page 146, and the
tune is Stuttgart, singing verses 1 to 7.
We'll sing to the double verse 7, down to I will measure with my hand.
O Lord God, my heart is steadfast, and with all my soul I'll sing. Harp and lyre I will awaken, and my song the dawn will bring.
These verses to the end of verse 7, and if you can stand, please stand to sing.
O Lord God, my heart is steadfast, and with all my soul I'll sing.
Harp and lyre I will awaken, and my song the dawn will bring.
Lord my heart among the nations, I will ever give you praise.
In the midst of all the peoples, I will sing of you always.
Lord, whose steadfast love is one less, greater than the heavens high.
But your faithfulness towards us reaches even to the sky.
God, my heart of the highest heavens, be exalted, O my God.
And through all the earth, the earth, let your glory tread abroad.
God, my heart of the highest heavens, be exalted, O my God.
I will distribute in triumph, every part of Chicken's land.
And the whole of Sacrothed Valley, I will measure with my hand.
Amen.
Now let's pray together.
We're praying especially for the young ones, for the tweenies, and for the Sunday school particularly.
Lord, our God, we thank you for these reminders and your word that we are here to glorify your name, to sing praises to you, to call upon your name, to read your word, and to hear its meaning.
Amen.
We thank you today, O Lord, that we have this privilege, this opportunity given to us once again.
Amen.
We thank you for the freedom that we have to gather here to worship you together this morning.
Amen.
Bless us, we pray, each one of us.
Amen.
Bless us together as a congregation.
Amen.
We pray today for our young ones.
We ask, Lord, that you would bless them.
Bless them as they receive the teaching of your word from week to week and day to day.
Bless them here today and bless them in their own families and in the various ways in which they receive the teaching that is necessary for them to grow morally and spiritually in a way that is appropriate and pleasing to you.
And we ask, O Lord, that you would protect them, that you would shield them with your own power, with your own guidance and strength from the many things that are in the world that would seek to draw them away from God and from his word.
And we ask that you would graciously, Lord, hear us as we pray for them.
And in all of these things, we pray that they will grow up to be a people who will glorify your name and publicly proclaim you as their Lord and their God.
Hear us now, we pray, and pardon our sin for Jesus' sake.
Amen.
Now, yesterday was called April Fool's Day.
I don't know where April Fool's Day came from, how the practice actually started.
I try to look it up, as I do usually on Google for these sort of things.
But, you know, the origin where it started is really unclear.
So we don't know where April Fool's Day really came from, from the practice.
But April Fool's Day is a time when people try to have some pranks or jokes against others, hopefully good ones, hopefully ones that are not harmful.
But April Fool's Day has been about that down through the years.
Now, the word fool in the Bible is actually used over 80 times throughout the Bible.
Many of them are in the book of Psalms, and especially in the book of Proverbs, which is a book to do with wisdom and learning wisdom and the importance of wisdom.
And the way the Bible uses the word fool is not so much stupidity as such.
It's actually to do more with not having wisdom or not wanting the wisdom that God Himself wants to give us and gives us in His Word.
And I've got three places in the Bible where the word fool is used.
And I want you to try and remember these because they're very simple verses, but they're very important.
And you can find many others as well.
First of all, in Psalms 14 and 53, if you look at the first verse of each of these Psalms, you'll find them exactly the same,
which says, the fool says in his heart, there is no God.
So there is God telling us that people who actually say there is no God, God does not exist.
The Bible says they lack wisdom.
They have that foolishness that just wants to ignore God, ignore His Word, and therefore live without the advantage of that teaching.
So remember, whenever you hear somebody saying, God does not exist.
I don't believe in God.
I don't believe He exists.
Well, go to the Bible, see what God thinks of that, pray for them.
But remember, God is saying that's foolishness.
That's lack of wisdom.
That's really closing your mind to the things that are really important.
That's the first place in the Bible, Psalms 14 and 53.
The fool says in his heart, there is no God.
Secondly, Proverbs 18 and verse 2.
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
You come across people like that, don't you, in life?
All they want to do is tell you what they think themselves and insist that what they think themselves must be right.
And they're closed their minds, their ears to every other opinion.
Even if you keep talking to them and try and get them off that track, all they'll do is just come back with the same stuff.
Well, the Bible calls that foolishness.
It takes no pleasure in understanding.
One of the things that is really important for us, whether we're young ones or older ones, is that we try and always add to our understanding.
That we give our minds especially to the things the Bible teaches us so that our understanding grows.
Our understanding about God, understanding about why things are as they are in the world,
understanding about ourselves, understanding about Jesus, why Jesus came, what Jesus did, where Jesus is now.
Understanding these things is so important.
That's why the Bible is saying that a fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
And one of the important things there is that we learn to listen.
Not just to talk all the time, expressing our own opinion and our own view of things.
That's what foolishness does.
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding.
So that's two.
The third one is in the New Testament in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12.
Here's a story about somebody who was rich, somebody who actually had a lot of ground,
and that ground produced a lot more and kept on producing.
What did he say to himself?
He said, I'll build bigger barns.
I'll store all this stuff.
And I'll say to my soul, relax.
You've got all this laid up for many years.
Just take your time.
Enjoy life.
God said to him, you fool.
Tonight, your soul is required of you.
And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?
You see, when God calls anybody a fool, we should really listen to what that is saying.
Because here is God saying to us, life is not about how many things we possess.
Life is not about just relaxing and taking it easy.
Life is about preparing for eternity, for the future.
And especially for the time that we leave this world and need to go to eternity.
God said to him, you fool.
Tonight, your soul will be required of you.
That man was going to die that very night.
And he wasn't ready to die.
He was just looking at the things he had all around him.
And God said, you're a fool.
Think of the things that you've laid up.
Who is going to possess them?
So, these are three places in the Bible.
See if you can find other places.
You can ask your teachers or leaders other places in the Bible where the word fool is used.
And you'll find that it's mostly along the same lines as these three verses.
So, let's now say the Lord's Prayer together.
Amen.
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 and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
Now, our next Psalm of Praise, Psalm 67.
Psalm 67 in the Scottish Psalter.
That's on page 300.
And that's the first version of the Psalm.
Lord, bless and pity us.
Shine on us with thy face.
That the earth, thy way, and nations all may know thy saving grace.
So, all the Psalms we're singing today have to do with the gospel going out throughout the world.
Or God's call to the whole world to come and put their trust in him.
So, Psalm 67 is the same.
The earth, thy fruit shall yield.
Our God shall blessing send.
God shall us bless.
Men shall him fear unto earth's utmost end.
Psalm 67.
The tune this time is Selma.
Lord, bless and pity us.
Shine on us with thy face.
Lord, bless and pity us.
Shine on us with thy face.
Love the earth, thy way, and nations all may know thy saving grace.
Lord, bless and pity us.
Shine on us with thy face
Love the earth, thy way, and nations all
May know thy saving grace
Let people praise thee, Lord
Let people all be praised
O let the nations be found
In songs their voices raise
Love justly people judge
Honor and rule nations all
Let people praise thee, Lord
Let them praise thee, Lord
Great and small
The earth, her fruit shall heal
Her God shall bless his name
God shall not bless, men shall end here
Unto earth that was paid
Now, our reading from God's Word today
is from Paul's letter to the Romans
chapter 15
and reading the verses 1 to 13
So Romans chapter 15 and from the beginning
We who are strong have an obligation
to bear with the failings of the weak
and not to please ourselves
Let each of us please his neighbour for his good
to build him up
For Christ did not please himself
But as it is written
The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me
For whatever was written in former days
was written for our instruction
That through endurance
and through the encouragement of the Scriptures
we might have hope
May the God of endurance and encouragement
grant you to live in such harmony with one another
in accord with Christ Jesus
That together you may with one voice
glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
Therefore welcome one another
as Christ has welcomed you
for the glory of God
For I tell you that Christ became a servant
to the circumcised
to show God's truthfulness
in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs
and in order that the Gentiles
might glorify God for his mercy
As it is written
Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles
and sing to your name
And again it is said
Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people
And again
Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles
And let all the peoples extol him
And again Isaiah says
The root of Jesse will come
Even he who arises to rule the Gentiles
In him will the Gentiles hope
May the God of hope
Fill you with all joy and peace in believing
So that by the power of the Holy Spirit
You may abound in hope
Amen
May God bless
A reading of that portion of his word
Let's call upon him again in prayer
Let's pray
Amen
O Lord our God
We give thanks for the hope
That you have brought into being
Through your resurrection from the dead
We bless you today
That that is the foundation
Of your people's hope
For you tell us in your word
And our own experience tells us
That the things of this world
Cannot be foundational
To a proper and lasting hope
A hope that will be fulfilled
Ultimately in heaven
O Lord our God
We thank you today
For the reality
Of those things
For which we give you praise
We thank you
That they are
As real to your people
As anything that they can see
Physically in this life
And we bless you Lord
That you have provided them for us
In your own salvation
So that we might live
As your people
So that we might
Not only praise you ourselves
But that we might
Promote your great name
And that we might seek
That the gospel
Would reach forth into the world
With this great message of hope
And we thank you today
That the gospel is
Being sounded forth
We pray that it may increase
More and more
O Lord
So that many will come
Even today
To hear
For the first time
And especially to hear
Savingly
Of the hope
Of eternal life
In the Lord Jesus Christ
We thank you Lord
Today that
He came into this world
Specifically
To die
And to rise again
From the dead
Three days later
And we give thanks
That he is now
At the right hand of glory
That he ministers
To his people
Through his spirit
And Lord
We ask that today
We may know
Of that benefit
Of that ministry
For ourselves
Bless us here today
As a congregation
We pray
Bless all those
Who are with us
Who are visiting
At this time
Be pleased to
Bless them
In their time
With us
And with their families
Bless all those
Who are away from us
As well at this time
Be pleased
O Lord
To be with them
And to accompany them
In their time of holiday
Be with our children
As they take a break
From school
And with our teachers
Too
As they look forward
To time off
We pray
Lord
That you would
Refresh them
That you would
Further encourage them
And give them
Lord
More and more
To know of
The faithfulness
Of God himself
Who is true
To all his promises
And who will never
Let his people
Other than
Have his promises
Fulfilled for them
We ask Lord
Today
That you would
Bless us
As a congregation
We pray
Your blessing
For all age groups
That we represent
As a congregation
And we ask
That in all our
Variety of need
Lord
That you would
Be pleased
To provide us
With your blessing
Lord
We need your blessing
For every step of life
We need your blessing
Even from the youngest days
Through to our old age
We thank you
That your blessing
Is assured
And brought to us
In your word
As that which is
Guaranteed
To all those
Who place their trust
In you
We ask oh Lord
That as we have
Been reading
And as we're thinking
Today of the gospel
Going forth into the world
That the nations
May come under
The rule of Christ
We pray that your kingdom
Will indeed come
That your will
Be done on earth
As it is in heaven
And we ask
That you would
Enable us to
Continue to pray
In that regard
And not to lose heart
Or be discouraged
As we find Lord
So much around us
That is opposed to you
So much that is closed
To the demands of God
To the rights
And the claims
Of Christ himself
As Lord
We pray oh Lord
That you would
Continue to encourage
Your people
To reach forth
And to continue
To pray
For the turning around
Of the world
In which we live
And we ask today
Oh Lord
That you would
Grant blessing
To us as a nation
We pray that in these
Challenging times
That you would bless
Those who govern us
For you have required
Of us Lord
That we constantly
Bear in mind
And pray for those
Who rule over us
And we do pray
For them Lord
Today
Whatever our
Political persuasions
May be
You have called upon us
To pray
For those in authority
That we may live
Peaceable lives
That we may have
The gospel
Advantageously
Given
That place
In our minds
And in our lives
And we ask
Oh Lord
That you would bless
Therefore
Those who are in
Government over us
In Scotland
And in Westminster
We pray for them
We pray for
Our first minister
We pray for
Our prime minister
We ask that you
Bless their cabinets
We pray that
Lord you would
Give them that wisdom
To look to you
And to look to your word
To regard the things
Of God
As of utmost importance
To give place
To your laws
And your precepts
Gracious Lord
We long for the day
When we will find
Righteousness
Marking us
And exalting us
Again as a people
We pray that that
May be our great
Concern as your people
That we will see
Righteousness restored
In our midst
As a nation
And that truth
Will no longer
Be fallen in the streets
We ask Lord
That you would
Give those who
Rule over us
A regard for truth
Not their own
Version of the truth
Not their own
Political party's
Version of the truth
But the truth
Of your word
The truth of the gospel
The truth of your laws
The truth of those
Things that are firm
And sure
And that are given
To us as a people
For our betterment
And for our
Our wholeness
And the things of life
We pray your blessing
Today for those
Who are
Today grieving
Who miss loved ones
For whom
The reality of death
Is a present
Experience in their families
Bless them we pray
We ask that your blessing
Will be with all those
Who look upon
Times gone by
As times of
Sorrow and bereavement
And loss
Oh Lord today
We pray that
You would again
Enable them to
Know your encouragement
To know the direction
And the comfort
Of your word
And to realize
Oh God again
That you are
At all times
Faithful and worthy
To be trusted in
Remember those
Of our number
Who are in hospital
At this time
Who are ill
In care homes
Or at home
We pray for them
Oh Lord
We ask that you
Be pleased
To bless them
We think especially
Oh Lord
In these days
Of the Graham family
William and Morag
And William's time
In hospital
We pray for him
For his recovery
Pray for Morag
As she supports him
And for the family
We ask oh Lord
That you'd bless them
In the days to come
Be pleased to hear
All those who are
Praying for them
We ask too
That you'd bless those
Oh Lord
Of the congregation
Who have bad news
In recent times
Who have difficult
Challenges now to face
In regard to their health
We pray
That you'd bless them
And encourage them too
And we do ask oh Lord
That you would
Graciously help us all
Whenever the turnings
Of life
Are difficult
And challenging for us
Help us to turn to you
Help us to turn
To your cross
To your death
To your resurrection
To your person
Help us to draw
All our encouragement
From the Christ
Who knows us
Who knows our position
So well
Who is able to
Give us support
In all our circumstances
So help us Lord
We pray to take
All our concerns
To your throne
Of grace
That we may obtain mercy
And find grace
To help
In time of need
We ask oh Lord
Now that you would
Continue to bless us here
And we pray
That as we turn
To your word
Once again
So we may know
The guidance
The instruction
Of your spirit
Coming to lay your word
Upon our hearts
Giving us to be
To rejoice
And to be glad
That you are God
And to take us
As your people
Here as we pray
Pardoning our sin
For Jesus' sake
Amen
Let's sing once again
Before we turn
To God's word
We're singing this
In this time
Psalm 86
In the Scottish Psalter
Page 341
Verses 6 to 11
And the tune is
Ayrshire
Hear Lord
My prayer
And to the voice
Of my request
Attend
In troublous times
I'll call on thee
For thou wilt
Answer send
Lord there is none
Among the gods
That may with thee
Compare
And like the works
Which thou hast done
Not any work
Is there
Psalm 86
Verses 6 to 11
To God's praise
Hear Lord
My prayer
Unto the voice
Of my request
Lord there is none
Among the gods
But there is none
Among the gods
That may with thee
Compare
And like the works
Which thou hast done
Not any work is there
All the ancient truth
Thou hast done
And worship reverently
Before thy face
A day O Lord
Thy name shall glorify
Because the Lord
Exceeding day
And works by thee
Are done
Which are to thee
And my love
But God
Thou hast
Thou shalt
Alone
In thee
I pray
And in thy truth
O Lord
Then what will I
And in thy truth
O Lord
Then what will I
Unite my heart
Thou die thy dear
Then what will I
And in thy life
And in my heart
And in thy life
Now please turn with me
To the book of Psalms
The book of Psalms
And Psalm 117
Psalm 117
In the book of Psalms
Psalm 117 in the book of Psalms
Praise the Lord all nations
Extol him all peoples
For great is his steadfast love towards us
And the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever
Praise the Lord
Well you'll be aware I'm sure that this is the shortest psalm in length
In the whole of the Psalter
But while it is the shortest psalm in length
It is one of the broadest in width
Because it encompasses all the nations in the call that goes out from it
To praise the Lord
Praise the Lord all nations
Extol him all peoples
And that has a significance for ourselves that goes on in its significance and importance
Because it's not just a call to all the nations
As we'll see it's a call that goes out from God
To incorporate ourselves in the praising of God
As well as to have that actually go out to the nations
And we can think of these things as we sing this short psalm
It's important always to think through the things that we're singing
Even if we're very familiar with them
And of course being very familiar with the Psalms as we are
The danger with that is that we'll sing just like a kind of rote or parrot fashion
We know the words, we sing them through
And they slip out of our minds without really thinking deeply of what they mean
And it's so important for us that whenever we sing praise to God
That we're thinking deeply of the words we're singing
Of the meaning they carry
And of how we apply that to ourselves
The psalm is used as we saw when we read through Romans 15 earlier
The psalm is used there
And it's used there in regard to all the nations coming to share
In the Old Testament promises to God's people
So there's no longer the Jewish people
It has now come to incorporate the Gentiles
Which we are, most of us were, and are, other than Jewish people
But now all peoples are being incorporated into the church of God
To sing His praises, to know His salvation in Jesus Christ
And it's fitting, I think, as we today think of Muriel
Our own Muriel who's here for only today's, her last Sunday with us
And we're going to finish our service today
A prayer specifically for Muriel as she returns to Cambodia
And this psalm is a psalm that Muriel knows very well, of course
Because she is one of those people who puts it into action
In terms of carrying the gospel and the teaching of the gospel
Through to other nations as well
Such as in Cambodia, where she shortly will be going back to
So let's look at this psalm very briefly
Here's a single directive and also two reasons
A single directive or call to all people to praise the Lord
Praise the Lord all nations
Extol Him all peoples
It's leaving nobody out
It's not leaving any nation out
Any people of any background
That's the first thing
There's a single call or directive to all peoples to praise God
Secondly, it gives us two reasons
Why the Lord's people especially should praise Him
Because here are the people of Israel
The Lord's covenant people
And in verse 2 you find the two reasons
He gives for praising Him
First of all, great is His steadfast love towards us
And secondly, the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever
In other words, these are two primary topics
In the reasons why we are called to praise the Lord
We are called to praise the Lord
Because of His steadfast love to His people
And because He is always continually faithful towards us
Well, look first of all at this call
Or this directive to all people to praise the Lord
Now that of course anticipates the New Testament itself
The call that goes out from the New Testament
For example, Acts chapter 17
You'll recall that that's the great chapter of Paul in Athens
And Paul addressing the heathen pagan people of Athens
Bringing them the message of the gospel
And wonderfully working that through into how he addresses them
But in verse 30 of Acts chapter 17
In verse 17 you find the apostles saying
That we must not think that the Lord is like gold or silver and stone
Formed by the art and imagination of man
The times of ignorance God overlooked
But now He commands all people everywhere to repent
Because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness
By a man whom He has appointed
And of this He has given assurance to all
By raising Him from the dead
In other words, the resurrection of Jesus is fitted in exactly and foundationally
To the call of the gospel
To go out to all the nations
In order to come and place their trust and their confidence in this Christ
To repent of sin and to turn to Him believingly
In the Old Testament in the likes of Psalm 117 has become
If you like embodied in the person of Christ
As the basis of this great call of the gospel
To come, repent of our sin and turn to the Lord and praise the Lord
In other words, Paul is incorporating Psalm 117
Not just to actually give us a reminder that the gospel must go forth to all the Gentiles
As well as having come to the Jews already
It incorporates a mandate for our evangelism
Psalm 117 is magnificently evangelistic
Because there you have an Old Testament passage
Into which you find Jesus
Placed by the apostle in the likes of the chapter we read in Romans 15
But that comes home to ourselves
Because as we'll see the reasons why we have to call upon all people
To praise the Lord
It's all to do with Christ
He has raised Him from the dead
This Jesus who died on the cross
And this is the mandate we have
To go forth with the gospel
To call upon all people to come and place their trust, their confidence in God
Now I know what you're saying
You're immediately saying
Well, when you go out with that gospel
You meet with this kind of opposition
This kind of response
Why should I trust in your God?
Why should your God be better than any other God?
Why should it not be the God Muslims believe in?
Why should it not be Buddhism?
Why should it not be atheism?
Well, we as a people, as a Christian people
Believe in freedom of religion
We believe that people, as they choose whichever God
Or no God at all to believe in or to trust in
That's a freedom given them
In the way that we, as a nation
Have freedom of religion as an important concept
We are not in the business of forcing people to believe what we believe
What we would want them to believe
Nevertheless, that means
That does not mean that freedom of religion
Does not mean in our multi-faith setting
That we ought not to evangelize
That it's actually wrong in some way or other
To try and get people of other religions
Or no religion at all
To come and place their trust in Jesus Christ
We believe that we are not in the way
No one comes to the Father except through Him
And because that is the case
We have that mandate to go forth and to evangelize
And to actually call upon the world to come
And place their trust and their confidence
In this God, in this Jesus, in this Savior
And that is where we come across the idea that is very current at the moment
Which is called conversion therapy
And you will find a clamor for the introduction of laws
Which would ban so-called conversion therapy
Now that gives the impression that when we are thinking of conversion as Christians
We are thinking of forcing people into believing what we believe
I was across at the Nicholson a couple of weeks ago there
And one of the questions, there were very many questions the class was asking
I was talking about what it is to be a Christian minister
What does a minister do?
And amongst the many, many good questions that the pupils had
One was this
Would you force an atheist to believe what you believe?
And of course my response to that was
No, we don't force anyone to believe
Whether they are atheists or otherwise
We don't force anybody to believe what we believe
We don't force anybody to believe in Christ
In fact, we couldn't anyway
And if we tried to do it, it would just be damaging
Remember your catechism, children maybe
Your catechism
Catechism 31
What is effectual calling?
It's one of the ones I dreaded being asked to repeat in Sunday school
Because it's the longest
I think in the whole of the catechism
And especially when you are learning it in Gaelic
It wasn't easy to remember it
Nevertheless, it was so useful to remember it
Because effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit
And then it goes on to tell us what's involved in effectual calling
That's God calling us and uniting us to Jesus for our salvation
And what the Spirit of God does in our hearts when He does that
When we are effectually called is
He convinces us of our sin and misery
He instructs or enlightens our mind in the knowledge of Christ
And He renews our will
Three things
Three things, the threefold elements of our effectual calling
But the third one is what's important for us just now
When we are saying we don't force people
Or try to force people into being Christians
And to believe in what we believe
God when He comes to actually bring us to know Himself
He doesn't force our minds
He renews our minds
And your mind is never as free
As it is when God sets it free
And don't listen to the things that you find out in the world
There are people that say
Actually you Christians are the ones with the closed minds
You're not prepared to listen to other alternatives
Yes, we've tried all the alternatives
We know what the alternatives are
They're not the way, the truth and the life
But Jesus is, the Lord is
His death is, His resurrection is
His return to judge the world
Is part of all that we come to believe in
How do we come to believe in it?
Not because somebody forces our minds
But because God renews our mind
He opens our mind
He gives us a mind that we didn't have before
And when you come to have your mind renewed by the Holy Spirit
What does the Catechon go on to say?
Thereby, He persuades and enables us
To embrace Jesus Christ
As He is offered in the Gospel
It's not my business today
To try and force anybody here to become a Christian
To actually be converted
To come to believe in Christ
My business is to preach the Gospel that says
Here is God's call to come to trust in Jesus
Here is God's provision in the cross
And in the resurrection of Christ
Trust in Him
Place your faith in Him
Whether you do that or not
Is your responsibility
I can't force you
Not what I want to force you
But I can try
To persuasively present Christ to you
And your need of Christ
And all that is in Christ that you have to do without
When you don't accept Him
When you don't present
When you don't have
As He presents Himself to you
When you don't receive Him
And trust in Him
So we are not in the business of forcing minds
And that is an important matter
In the current day and age in which we live
Now this psalm is really saying to us
Actually that God's kingship
Extends over the whole of creation
Now it doesn't matter whether you or I
Or hundreds or millions of people
Would come to actually not acknowledge that
When we would come and say
Well I don't believe in that
I don't want that
Well that's fine
It doesn't actually do anything
To displace this truth
This still remains true
However many people choose not to believe it
God is still the king
God still reigns
You and I are still answerable to God
Whether people choose to believe otherwise
Or you and I choose to believe it or not
Praise the Lord
All peoples
He has a universal right
To be praised
And that means
Praised by you and by me individually as well
How can it possibly
Be cruel
Or intolerable
To present a God who is essentially good
Who calls us to eternal life
Who calls upon us to leave our ways of sin
And enter the ways of righteousness
How can that be cruelty?
You know the cruelty would be
If I stood in a pulpit today and said
There are big chunks of the Bible
You don't need to believe anymore
That's cruelty
That's intolerable
That's just providing people with a cushion
On which they can sleep all the way through life
And then wake up to the reality and eternity in hell
Praise the Lord
All you nations
God's rights
Extend over all human life
Over all human beings
And what we have to constantly remember of course
Is that
There is no greater privilege given to us
Than to know God
And to praise God
It's such an immense privilege
We can't possibly take it in
In our own puny minds
But it is such an immense privilege
That God
Brings us to know himself
And to know why he is worthy of our praise
And that takes us to our second point
There are two reasons why the Lord's people
Should praise him
First of all
For his steadfast love
The greatest of steadfast love toward us
Now you know that
The steadfast love of the Lord
Often mentioned in the Old Testament
This is an important word
It's a covenant word
It's a word that means love
But love that's steadfast
Or in the Old Word
Which I think is also good
The Old AV word
Is loving kindness
It's not just love
In the sense of something that goes out
Without really affecting your life much
It's loving kindness
It's actually bringing you things
Which are beneficial
Which will actually be good for you
That's what the love of the Lord does
That's what the love of the Lord is
It is loving kindness
It is doing good
It is providing life
It is rescuing from death
The steadfast love
Of the Lord toward us
Is the first point
Why he calls upon us
To praise him
It's the foundation of
A covenant relationship
With himself
Where God
Comes to
Take us as his people
And we take him as our God
That's what
The essence
The core of
The covenant is
That God's people have with him
He is their God
And will be their God
They are his people
And will be his people
In other words
Great here
Is more than just
To do with size
The word in Hebrew
That's used here
Is the root of a word
That's used in the Old Testament
For warrior
For somebody as great
In might as a warrior
And what it means really
Is to prevail
It's used
Psalm 65
Verse 3 for example
Our iniquities prevail against us
But as for our transgressions
You will atone for them
In other words
That's just saying
The power of sin is great
It has us in its grip
But Lord
You are the one
Who prevails over that
While sin prevails against us
You outdo that
In providing atonement for us
So this really is saying to us
The steadfast love of the Lord
Is great
It prevails
It conquers
What a wonderful emphasis
That is for you today
When you know the Lord
As your Savior
And as your God
You are placing your trust
In someone
Who has such a love
Such a commitment in love
Such a covenant love
As is mighty love
A love that can't possibly go wrong
A love that will achieve
Its objective
Come what may
Where has that been shown to us
Most clearly
Well it's in the death
And resurrection of Jesus
Isn't it?
God so loved the world
That he gave his only begotten son
That whoever believes in him
Should not perish
But have everlasting
Or eternal life
God has demonstrated his love to us
Paul says to the Romans
In that while we were yet sinners
Christ died for us
Who died for us?
Christ died for us
Who is Christ?
The Son of God
Does anyone doubt the love of God?
Does anyone doubt the power of God's love?
Does anyone doubt the mightiness
The all-mightiness
Of the steadfast love of the Lord
When you look at the cross
And you say
Not just that's love
But that's powerful love
That's love that conquers death
That's love that deals with sin
That's love that brings us righteousness
That love that atones for sin
That's the love that rescues
From the grip of death
Praise the Lord
All you peoples
Why?
Because his steadfast love toward us
Is great
The steadfast love of the Lord
Where are you today?
With regard to your relationship
To this truth or to this God
Do you know the steadfast love for yourself?
Are you trusting in a love
That's somehow less than this love?
A love that can never achieve
What this love has achieved for God's people?
His steadfast love toward us is great
And you know when
When I think of my own love
When you think of your own love
And when you think of how easily it's deflected
How often it fails
How often it wanes
How often it may grow cold
How often it fluctuates
What a huge advantage you have as a Christian
To know that your life
Is founded on and fed by
God's steadfast love
A love that does not change
A love that will be the same
For all eternity
Praise the Lord
Why?
For his steadfast love
His powerful love
His great love
Is great, it's powerful, it's mighty
Toward us
And then his faithfulness
Endures forever
And that of course is tied up with his love being steadfast
The faithfulness of God
And the love of God
Are aspects as we experience God
As our Saviour
Aspects of the same
Grace of God
Grace that flows from
His love
The grace, the kindness
And also the faithfulness of God
Here as well
Remember in Hebrews
Chapter 10 verse 23
You have an emphasis there on
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope
Without wavering
And sometimes you find these words are so challenging
Because you say, well, that must leave me out
Because I often waver in my hope
I don't have that same steady hope
In God and in his promises that I ought to have
How can I actually meet the terms of that verse that says
Let us not waver in hope
Well, the verse finishes
For he is faithful
Who has promised
Your continuance in hope
Living a hopeful life by faith in Christ
It's not based on the strength of your hope
Your hope is not based on itself
It's not based on your faithfulness
It's not based on the quality of your prayer life
It's not based on the quality of the congregation you belong to
Your hope is based on this
The faithfulness of God
Let us hold fast, he says
To the profession of our hope
The confession of our hope
Because he is faithful
And you can depend on that faithfulness
You can depend on that
But absolutely
And entirely throughout life
He is faithful
Who has promised
He says here
The faithfulness of the Lord
Endures forever
There's one great passage in the Bible
That I think is
A really tremendous passage in the context
And it's in the
Lamentations of Jeremiah
It's not a book perhaps that we
Very often refer to
Or preach from
But in chapter 3
Of Jeremiah
Remember Jeremiah had faced
The greatest disaster of his life
The arrival of the Babylonians
Who wrecked Jerusalem
Wrecked the temple
Took people captive
Plundered it
Absolutely devastated
Vandalized it
And here he is
In lamentations
Sitting down
And crying his heart out to God
Asking serious questions of God
And telling us about the depth of his sorrow
Then he comes in chapter 22
Of this verse
Of this chapter
Verse 22 of this chapter rather
My soul continually remembers it
My affliction and my wanderings
My soul is bowed down within me
But this I call to mind
And therefore I have hope
What does he call to mind?
What is it that gives him hope?
What is it that pierces the darkness
Of his agony at this time?
This is it
The steadfast love of the Lord
Never ceases
His mercies never come to an end
They are new every morning
Great is your faithfulness
The Lord is my portion
Says my soul
Therefore I will hope in him
I know it's easy to say
In pulpits
You know it doesn't matter what happens
In your life
God is steadfast
God is faithful
But that is true
And I have to apply it to my own life
And you have to apply it to yours
When the difficult times come
When the challenges come
When the pains come
When the afflictions come
When all of these things actually
Sometimes unexpectedly come upon us
What do we turn to?
What do we do then
In our grief of soul?
The steadfast love of the Lord
Is from everlasting to everlasting
We remind ourselves that God
Does not make mistakes
That God is always
As he says here
Faithful and steadfast
All through
And that we need to come
Anew to place our trust in him
And in his word that tells us
Now we need to take this back
To the beginning of the psalm
Here are the two points
The steadfast love of the Lord toward us
And the faithfulness of the Lord
Endures forever
The reasons why the Lord's people are to praise him
There are other reasons
But these are the two in the psalm
Now we take that back to the first verse
Praise the Lord all nations
Extol him all peoples
And you need to feed that
Feed that into the call of the gospel
Into the evangelistic exercises and endeavors of God's people
Why do you go out with the gospel?
Why are we concerned to actually bring the gospel to people around us in this town
Or wherever it is we belong?
What is it that we seek to convey to them?
What is it we seek to bring to them in seeking to instruct their minds meaningfully?
Well this
The steadfast love of God is great
And the faithfulness of God endures forever
Therefore come and place your trust in him
You see these are arguments that the Bible gives us
That we feed into our evangelism
And say this is the God we actually serve
And this is the God we commend to you
Not the God of the caricatures you find all too often in public life
But the God
Who loves and who is faithful
To the extent of giving his only begotten son
And raising him from the dead
That we might have hope
And so that's our task
Go he says
And make disciples of all nations
On the basis of what?
All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me
This is Jesus shortly before his ascension
Therefore, therefore because this is who I am
Because these are the great truths of God
Go and make disciples of all nations
Baptizing them
In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit
Teaching them to observe
All things that I have commanded you
And lo, I am with you
To the end of the age
And that's a promise
And a fact
That's based on God's steadfast love and faithfulness
What is our great concern today?
What is your great concern?
Surely it is to know God for yourself
To be like those people
In John chapter 4
To whom the woman of Samaria
Of Samaria
Spoke of the Lord Jesus Christ
That she had come to know
As she sat at that well
Near Sychar
Come and see a man
Who told me all things that ever I did
Can this not be the Christ?
So they went out of the town
And they believed in him
Many of them believed in him
And they said to the woman
Now we believe
Not just because of what you said
But we have heard him for ourselves
And know that this is indeed the Christ
The Saviour of the world
Now isn't that what you're saying?
You're not going to base your life
Merely on what someone else tells you
Not even from the pulpit
You're going to come to him for yourself
Aren't you?
You're going to listen to him for yourself
You're going to embrace him yourself
With your own mind
And with your own will
As God will enable you
And you're going to say
Well now I know
Now I believe
Now I accept him
Because I've come to know him
For myself
And may God bless these thoughts
On his word today to us
We're going to sing now to God's praise
Our final psalm today is Psalm 47
And that's on page 62
We're singing to a tune Warrington
Singing verses 1 to 9
That's the whole of Psalm 47
As you find it there on page 62
All nations
Clap your hands and shout
Let joyful cries to God ring out
How awesome is the Lord most high
Great King who rules the earth throughout
Psalm 47
And we'll sing the whole psalm
End
Time
On John还是 2 through 1, Psalm 49
And we'll sing the whole psalm
plopнее song
How awesome is the Lord most high,
With he through rules we e'er through love.
He hath subdued beneath our feet
The nations who hath been our foes
In blessing Jacob whom we love
The heaven is which for us he chose
God hath gone up with showers of joy
The Lord hath made the trumpet sound
Sing, praise, sing, praise to God most high
To God the King that plays the world
For God is King of all the earth
Sing sounds of praise to him alone
For whose the nations from on high
He sits upon his holy throne
The leaders of the nations come
To yield and stand to Abram's war
To him below the shields of man
Exalted in the midst of Lord
Will you please take your seats for a moment?
Muriel, I can speak to you directly from here
Even though I'm not facing you at the front here
I know you didn't want to make this a big thing
But we are pleased to be able to commend you to God
As you return shortly to Cambodia
Let me just assure you if you need any assurance
Of our love for you
Of our prayers for you
That they will follow you
And of our prayers for you
As you go back to Cambodia
And as you serve the Lord there
We pray that you may know
More and more of his presence each day
Of his blessing upon your life
His blessing upon your work as well for him
In Cambodia
And you leave, as I say, with our love
And our prayers
And we thank you for your time with us here
For the times you've taken
To tell us about your work
Both for the congregation as a whole
And also for the young folks
When you spoke to them a few weeks ago
At the Sunday school
We appreciate all of that very much
And please keep sending us your newsletter
Even though I have to apologize
For the few times that I respond to that
By email
But we do take delight in receiving
News of your work
From time to time
As you send us your newsletter
So please do be assured
We will continue to remember you in prayer
And we're going to pray for Muriel
And finish the service with prayer
And then that'll include the benediction
And afterwards please allow me
To get to the main door
To shake hands with you then
Let's stand now for prayer
Almighty God we give thanks
For the gospel
We give thanks for those you call
To proclaim the gospel
To be workers in the gospel
In the name of Christ
We pray now Lord for Muriel
We thank you for her months with us here
With her family elsewhere
We pray that you'd bless her now
As she anticipates leaving
To go back to Cambodia
We thank you for the strength
Of her call
For her love for you
And for her desire to serve you there
We pray that she will see much blessing
Oh Lord in days to come
We pray that your protective care
Will be with her in her travels
And in all that she does for you
When she returns to Cambodia
Be with her Lord
As we commend her to you once again
We commend her to you
And to the word of your grace
And we pray that
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
The love of God the Father
And the communion of the Holy Spirit
Will be with us now
Forevermore
Amen
That little table
Good
Thank you
What have you come to?
Whether to man
Notchuss
Will be with us
So
Thank you
That little table
If we want to come to you
And we make everyone
It's time to bathroom
And it's time tomadı
And we let our job
There's life
The world
Hang her
Throughout
And it's time to
Campaign
ioni
It's time to
And the MC
Trim
And
It entered