Psalm 34, the Sing Psalms version on page 40 of the psalm books. We're going to sing from verse 1 to verse 10.
! Psalm 34, the tune is Peter's ham.
At all times I will bless the Lord, I will praise him with my voice.
Because I glory in the Lord, let troubled souls rejoice.
Together let us praise the Lord, exalt his name with me.
I sought the Lord, his answer came from fear, he set me free.
We'll sing from verse 1 to 10 to God's praise. We stand to sing.
Amen.
Together let us praise the Lord, exalt his name with me.
I sought the Lord, his answer came from fear, she set me free.
They look to him and shine with joy, they are not good to shame.
This suffering and cry to the Lord, from whom deliverance came.
The angel of the Lord, exalt his name with me.
All those who fear and honour him, he sets his people free.
The angel of the Lord, exalt his name with me.
And hunger for their good.
But those who wait upon the Lord will not lack any truth.
Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer. Let us pray.
Lord, our gracious God, we come just seeking to worship you and thankful that at all times we can bless the Lord and praise you with our voice.
That we can come together with that joy in our singing just now, lifting our voices to you, raising up our praise to you.
For you alone are worthy of it.
And we thank you for this renewed opportunity.
We thank you for this time together where we can reflect on your word to us.
And above all, reflecting upon what has been done for us in your giving your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who came to take away the sin of the world.
And we thank you that we come to do this in remembrance of him.
And we come humbly before you.
We come just seeking to know your presence with us, to know your peace upon us.
We thank you that the psalm that we have sung has reminded us that we can come and taste and see that God is good who trusts.
And him is blessed.
And so we pray, Lord, that we would all come to taste of your goodness today, whether we are sitting at the table or whether we are looking on, that today our hearts would hunger for you, that we would long for you, that we would long for you in a way that maybe we haven't before, to see your goodness with us, to see your blessing upon us.
And we do thank you for your word that guides us.
We thank you for the word that we have before us today.
And as we open it up together, we pray that we would know your spirit guiding us in it, that we would know your voice speaking to us through your word.
For it's so precious, your word.
It is a word that gives life to our soul.
It's a word that became flesh and dwelt among us, as we read last evening.
And we thank you that it is a living and an active word, that it has power, even today as it has at all times.
It is still powerful today to convict and to convert.
And we pray that that power would be known with us today as well.
The conviction that we come under, when we realise how far short we fall of your glory, when we recognise the sin in our hearts, when we recognise who we have sinned against.
But yet we thank you that your word is able to convert, to turn us from our sin and to turn to you as our Lord and as our God.
And so we ask, Lord, that your power would be known with us today through your word and spirit.
And that as we come to the sacrament too, that, Lord, all that we do there would be giving glory to you.
For we are unworthy of it, Lord, but we thank you for the one who came to bear our sin on the cross.
The one who was silent before his accusers.
And the one who was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
The one who bore our sin on the tree.
But the one over whom death had no hold.
For even as he gave his life, he took it up again.
And we thank you for that reminder on the first day of the week as we meet.
That he is risen.
And that in Jesus Christ we have a risen Lord, a risen saviour.
We have one who is even now at your right hand.
And we offer our prayers in and through him.
Asking, Lord, forgiveness for all our sin.
So may you bless us together.
Thankful for the fact that you are building your church.
Not just here, but throughout the world.
That you are one who is active.
The one who is working.
The one who is mighty and sovereign over all lands and nations and people.
And we thank you that you have your people.
That you are calling them to yourself.
And that throughout the world today where your name is praised and glorified.
That you would be calling sinners to yourself.
That you would be calling people to turn to you.
And to weep over their sin.
But to rejoice in the joy of salvation.
And so we pray, Lord, for all who go out with your word today to all ends of the earth.
That the promise of your word will be fulfilled.
That it will not return empty or void.
But accomplish all that you have sent it forth for.
And so bless us together even here.
And all your people who gather in your name.
Remember us in our homes and in our families.
In our communities as a whole.
We know, Lord, that every need we have is known unto you.
Every burden that we carry.
Every prayer that we offer up.
You hear.
And are able to answer according to your will.
We do pray for our communities.
We pray for all our people.
We thank you for our young ones who are in Sunday school.
And tweenies and creche and Bible class.
We thank you for the many that we see coming.
Week by week.
And thank you for each home and family that they come from.
We pray your peace and your blessing over them.
And we thank you too, Lord, for those in different needs at this time.
We know that the needs around us are so many.
There are those who are grieving and mourning.
We thank you, Lord, for the comfort.
For the grace that sustains and keeps in these times.
We remember those who are unwell at home or in hospital.
We pray for them, Lord, that you would surround them with your loving arms.
That you would uphold them and keep them also.
And even maybe those who are tuning in online today from home or hospital.
We thank you for the ways that we can still communicate the gospel in that way.
And that they can feel part of our congregation here.
And we pray that they would know that union that is found in Christ.
That we are one in Christ Jesus.
And even though they may not take part in the Lord's Supper physically.
That they would feel and know your presence.
Even remembering their Lord and their Saviour where they are.
And so, Lord, we plead with you to be in our midst.
To do us good.
To guide us and to help us.
To encourage us and to strengthen us.
Through your word and through all that we do today in our fellowship with one another.
That you would bless us with your unity.
With your presence.
And that we would glory in the Lord.
So hear our prayers.
Continue with us.
And go before us, pardoning our sin.
That's all we ask.
We ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
We're going to read together now from the word of God.
Two readings we're going to have.
First of all, in the Old Testament.
In the book of Isaiah.
In chapter 53.
Isaiah chapter 53.
Just a few verses from this chapter.
From verse 4 to verse 7.
And then we'll turn.
And our second reading is in John chapter 19.
So our first reading in Isaiah chapter 53.
You'll find it around page 742 of the church Bibles.
And at verse 4.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.
Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our iniquities.
Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.
And with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to his own way.
And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and he was afflicted.
Yet he opened not his mouth.
Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter.
And like a sheep that before its shearers is silent.
So he opened not his mouth.
Then we'll turn to our second reading in the Gospel of John chapter 19.
We're going to read from verse 14 down to verse 30.
We find this about page 1091 of the church Bibles.
Gospel of John chapter 19.
I'm reading from verse 14 to verse 30.
Here we find Jesus before Pilate in this chapter.
Pilate speaking to him and asking him questions.
And in verse 9 you see that he speaks there to him.
He entered his quarters again and said to Jesus,
Where are you from?
But Jesus gave him no answer.
He was silent as we see what we read in Isaiah 53.
But then we take up our reading at verse 14.
Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover.
It was about the sixth hour.
He said to the Jews, Behold your king.
They cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him.
Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king?
The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus and he went out, bearing his own cross,
to the place called the place of the skull,
which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.
There they crucified him, and with him two others,
one on either side, and Jesus between them.
Pilate, who wrote an inscription and put it on the cross,
it read, Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.
Many of the Jews read this inscription,
for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city,
and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek.
So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate,
Do not write, The king of the Jews,
but rather this man said, I am the king of the Jews.
Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written.
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus,
they took his garments and divided them into four parts,
one part for each soldier, and also his tunic.
But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
So they said to one another,
Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it,
to see whose it shall be.
This was to fulfill the scripture which says,
They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
So the soldiers did these things,
but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother,
and his mother's sister,
Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his mother,
and the disciples whom he loved standing nearby,
he said to his mother,
Woman, behold your son.
Then he said to the disciple,
Behold your mother.
And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished,
said to fulfill the scripture,
I thirst.
A jar full of sour wine stood there,
So they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch,
and held it to his mouth.
When Jesus had received the sour wine,
he said,
It is finished.
And he bowed his head,
and gave up his spirit.
Amen.
And may God bless these readings from his word.
Before we come to consider these words together,
we're going to sing once again,
this time in Gaelic,
in Psalm 23.
We're singing two verses in Gaelic.
You'll find them on the front of the order of service.
The words are there on the bulletin sheet,
I should say.
The words are on the front of the bulletin sheet,
in both Gaelic and English.
We'll be singing this psalm.
We remain seated for the singing of the Gaelic psalm.
The Lord's my shepherd,
I'll not want these well-known words.
We remain seated and sing this psalm in Gaelic.
We remain seated.
Thank you.
Isaiah 53 verse 7.
He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet opened not his mouth.
Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter is really the text that we have this morning.
We began last evening with a theme of looking at the Lamb of God over this weekend.
And last night we were looking at the opening chapter in John's Gospel where John the Baptist
looked and saw Jesus coming towards him and said these well-known words,
Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And that is really what we're looking at over this weekend.
The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Last evening we thought of it under the heading, The Lamb of God Promised.
We saw how the Lamb of God was promised, seeing it from the Old Testament and fulfillment into the New.
And this morning we're considering the Lamb of God punished.
The purpose for which the Lamb of God came was that he would give his life.
And what we see in Isaiah here is Isaiah depicting it in that way.
The Lamb that is led to the slaughter, the Lamb who died for our sins.
It's amazing how often people use phrases without realizing where they come from.
How often do you hear people saying things like,
The blind leading the blind.
Or by the skin of our teeth.
Or no peace or no rest for the wicked.
They're almost everyday occurrences when you hear these kinds of phrases being used.
But what's amazing is that people don't realize the seriousness of them.
Because they are from the Word of God.
They are all words that we find in the Scriptures.
The blind leading the blind is found in Matthew and Luke's Gospel.
By the skin of our teeth is found in the book of Job, chapter 19.
Where he says,
I am nothing but skin and bones.
I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.
And you also have no rest or no peace.
For the wicked, Isaiah uses that phrase twice.
In chapter 48 and chapter 57.
And so there are phrases, everyday phrases,
that are used.
And yet they don't realize where they come from.
And perhaps one of the most serious ones in that sense,
not recognizing that it's from the Word of God,
is people who say they were like lambs to the slaughter.
They were led like lambs to the slaughter.
Without thinking or realizing where it comes from,
without realizing the background to these words,
it can be used so flippantly.
They were just like lambs to the slaughter.
And in the passages we have read,
first of all in Isaiah,
here and then in the Gospel of John,
we see just how significant this phrase is.
Led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And how for all believers,
these words are such a key to the hope
that we have of salvation in Jesus Christ.
As John the Baptist said,
Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
What Isaiah is saying here is,
Behold the lamb of God who was led,
the Savior who was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And when we think of how this phrase is used today,
it's often applied to people being led somewhere
where unbeknown to them,
something terrible is going to happen.
And I remember I've read a number of books
from the Second World War
and especially about the suffering
of those who were in concentration camps.
And they were promised peace.
They were promised work.
They were given all these promises.
And yet the phrase that is often used of them
was they were led like lambs to the slaughter.
They didn't realize where they were going.
But when you look at the Lord Jesus
and when you see these words applied to him,
that he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
it wasn't that he didn't know where he was going.
He knew what lay ahead of him.
He had given the prediction of his death
at least three times before it came to pass.
He had told his disciples,
he had told his people
that he was going to give his life.
And so he knew where he was going.
And yet he was led like a lamb to the slaughter
because he was going there
because it was required to save sinners,
to save you and to save me from our sins.
Behold, the lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the world
is this lamb who was led to the slaughter.
And it is this lamb that we remember together today.
It's this lamb that we see represented before us
in the bread and the wine.
And so I want us to think of the lamb again today,
the lamb who was led to the slaughter.
And we're going to think about it under three headings.
And the first one is the lamb who was silent.
The lamb who was silent.
And then we're going to think about the lamb who is Lord.
And then thirdly, the lamb who was led.
So the first thing we're going to think about
is the lamb who was silent.
What we have in our text there in verse 7 of Isaiah 53.
Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent.
So he opened not his mouth.
He opened not his mouth.
The silence of Christ is something
that leaves an impression in itself.
We know that there are words that he spoke
as we see in the Gospels,
but there are times when he does not answer.
There are times when he says nothing
in response to questions that are put to him.
We see it in the account that Luke gives
where he's before Herod
in all the questions that Herod was asking of him.
He said nothing.
And we see it here in the Gospel of John
as well in verse 9, as I mentioned earlier,
when he was asked, where are you from?
But Jesus gave him no answer.
You have it in the Gospel of Mark,
again with Pilate.
When he was before Pilate,
Pilate asked him again, saying,
do you answer nothing,
seeing how many things they testify against you,
but Jesus still answered nothing.
So that Pilate marveled, it says in the Gospel of Mark.
He marveled at the silence of Jesus before him.
Pilate was unable to find fault with him.
Herod couldn't find fault with him,
and yet they both see him innocent before him,
and yet silent, giving no response.
What would you do if you were falsely accused?
Would you stay silent?
Surely you would stand and defend yourself
to say all these accusations are false.
There is no truth in them.
Well, imagine having to stand before accusers,
and the punishment is death if you are found guilty.
Would you say nothing?
Would you remain silent?
Well, Jesus is here before his accusers,
and he knows the outcome of this trial,
that he is going to the cross,
and yet he opens not his mouth.
Why was he silent?
Well, he wasn't there to defend himself.
He was there as the Lamb of God
who had come to take away the sin of the world.
He was there not to defend himself,
but to defend us,
to defend you and to defend me.
And therefore he couldn't open his mouth and defend us,
because we are sinners.
He couldn't open his mouth and say,
my people are innocent,
because we are guilty.
But here is the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world.
And so because he had come for his people,
he opened not his mouth.
He was silent.
He didn't defend himself.
Because as Isaiah makes clear for us
in our reading in the verses just before,
when he speaks of, in verse 6,
So we like sheep have gone astray,
we have turned everyone to his own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
We have gone astray,
but the Lamb of God has come
to take away the sin of the world.
The preacher Andrew Bonner,
he often spoke about an illustration about sheep.
And he used to reflect on how you would see sheep
often get themselves into situations of trouble.
And there was one particular story
often recounted was
how sheep would often jump down onto a ledge
where there was grass that looked so sweet.
But what they would find was
that where they had jumped down,
they couldn't get off.
They couldn't get back out of the situation
that they'd put themselves in.
And what caught his attention was this,
how the shepherd,
instead of immediately going down to the sheep
and rescuing it,
would leave it.
Would leave it for a few days even
until it had eaten all the grass,
until it was starting to get tired and weary.
And only then would the shepherd
at that point go down with a rope
to lift the sheep out from the ledge
it was stuck on.
And he would ask,
why?
Why don't you just go down
and rescue the sheep immediately?
And the shepherd would say,
well, if I did that,
the sheep are so foolish
that they would just dash off the edge of the cliff.
You have to wait
until they're tired and weary.
And only then
can you go down and rescue them
when they're helpless.
And he was making this illustration
to say that is the way with us.
All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned each to our own way.
But we're so busy in what we're doing,
we're not listening to God.
We're not listening to what his word is saying to us.
That we are in danger,
that we are in our sin lost.
We won't listen until that point
where we are made to feel helpless
and hopeless.
And only then is he able to save.
We are sheep who have gone astray.
But we have a shepherd who has come.
But he has come as a lamb.
He has come as a lamb.
He has come as one of us
to take away our sin.
In our action in coming to the Lord's table today,
we do so in silence.
And yet our actions speak loudly.
What we are doing,
we are showing that we are not
struggling and shouting anymore
against the Lord,
but that we are resting in Christ,
our Saviour.
We are still before him.
But maybe you're sitting,
looking on today as well,
and you're still in that restless place.
You're still in that point in life
where you're still like the sheep
who has gone astray,
who turned to your own way.
But the Lord is speaking to you as well.
And he is saying,
Be still,
and come to me.
The one who was silent,
the one who opened not his mouth,
the one who was led like a lamb
to the slaughter,
the lamb of God,
who came to take away the sin of the world.
It's the one that we are to behold
and to look at today.
So the first thing there we have
is the lamb who was silent.
The second thing we have
is the lamb who is Lord.
And we notice this in Isaiah speaking about it as well,
how he was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth.
Why did he do that?
Because he had authority,
because he had power.
He was Lord.
And we see it too in the Gospel of John.
Especially there we're going to reflect
for a few moments on this point,
the lamb who is Lord,
we see it here in different ways.
We see it first with Pilate.
Pilate is an interesting character
as you look at him here
when he's got Jesus before him.
He finds no fault with him.
And it's so many of the things that Pilate says
that make you wonder just where he was.
Pilate said to him in verse 38 of chapter 18,
What is truth?
What a question to ask.
What is truth?
There's this kind of wondering
and looking and seeing this Jesus.
And he's saying,
What is truth?
And in the whole encounter with Pilate and Jesus
and the questions that are back and forth,
you see that there is an interest
being stirred up in him.
At one point,
he just wanted to give him away to Herod.
You make the decision almost.
Just take it out of my hands.
He doesn't want to make this decision
and yet he comes to the point,
as we all do,
where we have to decide,
What will you do with Christ?
And Pilate here,
he sees him as king.
He says in there in verse 14,
Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover.
It was about the sixth hour.
He said to the Jews,
Behold your king.
But they cried out,
Away with him,
away with him.
Shall I crucify your king?
He said.
We have no king,
but Caesar was their response.
So there's this debate going on.
Who is Lord?
And Pilate is always saying,
Here is your king.
Here is your Lord.
And they're saying,
He is no lord to us.
We have no lord.
We have no king,
but Caesar.
Caesar.
So there's this dilemma going on.
And that's the way we can often come as well.
We have this dilemma of,
Well, who is our Lord?
What is truth?
What can make me come to the Lord's table?
Can I come to the Lord's table?
We're being torn in different directions.
We can try and avoid the whole subject of Jesus ourselves as well.
We can say,
Well, it's not for me,
but there's no hiding from Jesus.
And as Jesus is taken away,
the chief priests came to him in verse 21,
Do not write,
The king of the Jews,
but rather,
This man said,
I am the king of the Jews.
But Pilate's answered,
What I have written,
I have written.
I am the king.
The king of the Jews is what he kept.
There was something he was seeing.
That this Jesus,
this Christ,
he was Lord.
And that's the question we have to answer today as well.
Who is he to us?
Is he your Lord?
Is he your king?
And if he is,
you come.
Because he is Lord.
He is God of all.
We are reminded too of how he is Lord
and the reaction of the soldiers as we see here.
In verse 23,
when the soldiers had crucified Jesus,
they took his garments
and divided them into four parts,
one part for each soldier,
also his tunic.
But the tunic was seamless,
woven into one piece from top to bottom.
So they said to one another,
Let us not tear it,
but cast lots
to see whose it shall be.
And this was to fulfill scripture,
which says,
He divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing
they cast lots.
It's an interesting thing here
that what's the point here
that they cast lots for his garments.
One of the things that people speak about here
is the garment,
the tunic especially,
was woven in one piece
from top to bottom.
And that there's a significance in that.
And that there was a change
coming into the system now.
A change coming into the world.
Because as we were looking at
last night,
behold the Lamb of God.
The Lamb of God
was the Lamb that was slain
once a year
for the forgiveness of sin.
And there was a high priest
who would take the Lamb
into the Holy of Holies.
And only he could go in.
And the high priest,
we are told in Exodus 39,
would wear a tunic
that was seamless,
that was made in one piece,
representing,
going in without blemish
or without flaw.
And here we find
that the garment,
the tunic that Jesus was wearing,
it was in one piece,
seamless,
woven from top to bottom.
And there's significance in this.
In who Jesus is being seen as.
He is now going to be
the great high priest.
And the night before
Jesus' crucifixion,
in Mark 14, verse 61,
again he was appearing
before the high priest.
And the high priest asked him,
Are you the Christ,
the Son of the Blessed?
And Jesus said,
I am.
You will see the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of power
and coming with clouds of heaven.
And then it goes on to say this,
the high priest tore his garments
and said,
What further witness do we need?
You have heard this blasphemy.
What is your decision?
And they all condemned him
as deserving death.
The high priest tore his own garments.
What was forbidden by the law
in the Old Testament,
he did.
And people are saying
this was how it was being seen
as the old system was gone
and the new was coming.
Here is the Lamb of God
fulfilled in Jesus Christ,
the one who came
to take away the sin of the world
so that no longer
was the system going to be
the high priest himself going in,
but Jesus as high priest.
Once and for all sacrificed.
So that now we have access to God
through our Lord
who is Jesus Christ.
He is Lord.
And you see it too
in the reaction of the people
in verse 15.
We have no king
but Caesar, they said.
But what were they saying
before that?
Crucify him.
Away with him.
All these different responses.
Pilate,
Herod,
the soldiers,
the people,
the crowds,
they're all significant
because they're all
making the point
who is Lord
and what is
your verdict
of Christ.
Will you avoid him
or trying to push him away?
Will you mock him?
Will you shout his condemnation?
Or will you instead
take hold of him
as the one who is
the Lamb of God
who came
to take away
the sin
of the world?
We are shown
the Lamb
who was Lord.
But is he Lord
for you?
But before you answer that,
there's one other thing
we want to consider here.
And that is to see
what Jesus did
for his people.
And there we see
the Lamb
who was led
away.
As we see it
in Isaiah 53
verse 7,
he was led
like a lamb
to the slaughter.
We see it also
here
in verse 16
and 17
of John 19.
So he delivered him
over to them
to be crucified.
So they took Jesus
and he went out
bearing his own cross
to the place
called
the place
of the skull
which is in Aramaic,
which in Aramaic
is called
Golgotha.
He was led.
The Lamb
was led
away.
But all the time
the people
are leading him.
Or so it seems.
They were leading him
to Pilate,
to the high priest,
to Herod
and eventually
leading him out
to be crucified.
And it would seem
they get
what they want.
The Lamb
of God
was punished.
punished.
But when you look
at where he was
being led to,
as he was led
away
bearing his own
cross
to the place
called the skull
to Golgotha
to Calvary
as it's known,
we see he was
being led
away
to fulfill
scripture.
The scripture
that we have
in Isaiah 53
verse 7,
the Lamb
was led
to the slaughter.
He was wounded
for our transgressions,
it says in verse 5
of Isaiah 53.
He was bruised
for our iniquities.
The chastisement
of our peace
was upon him
and by his stripes
we are healed.
He was led
out to suffer
in our place.
He was led
out,
condemned,
a sinner.
but his sacrifice
was for us.
It is through him
we can say
in my place
condemned
he stood.
He didn't open
his mouth,
he was led
to the cross.
Because of the sin
in your heart
and mine,
he was led
like a lamb
to the slaughter.
Because we all
like sheep
have gone astray,
we have turned
each to our
own way.
The cost
of our sin
was this lamb
being led away
to die
on the cross.
And it is the cross
that we are
to look to today.
It is the cross
that we see
before us
when we think
of the blood
and the body
that was shed
and broken
for his people.
There is a story
told of
a long time
ago in London
when London
wasn't as
enormous
as it is
today.
And the heart
of London,
the centre
of London
from which
all other points
took its distance
was Charing Cross.
And the place
was often
just referred to
as the cross.
People knew it
in that way.
There was one day
when a policeman
was out on duty
and he came
across a little
boy who was
distressed.
He was lost.
He was weeping.
And the policeman
was trying to ask him
where are you from?
Where do you live?
And the wee boy
just couldn't
explain to him
where his house
was.
And this was going
on for a little while.
Policeman just trying
to get this information
out of the boy.
Can you just tell me
something?
Can you tell me
something about
where you live?
And eventually
the little boy
said,
well if you take
me to the cross
I can find
my way from there.
Because he knew
Charing Cross.
He knew that point
and from there
he knew where to go.
But the illustration
is there for us
as well.
When we are lost
we are struggling
to find our way
to know
what direction
to go in.
Where can we go?
Well
we pray
take us
to the cross.
Take us
to the cross
because there
we see
all that's been
done for us.
And from there
we can find
our way
because there
we see
our Lord
the Lamb of God
who came
to take away
the sin
of the world.
And from there
we can follow him
and walk
with him
knowing that
he is the way
the truth
and the life.
Knowing that
in him
we have a
saviour
who is faithful
to us.
And he has
shown it
in his love
for us
in giving
his life.
Today we come
to the cross
in remembrance
of the Lamb
who was punished.
To remember
what Christ
has done
for us.
And when you
see that
when you
behold
the Lamb
of God
who takes
away
the sin
of the world
what is
your verdict
on Christ
then?
When you
see what
he has done
the price
that he
paid
in giving
his life
as a ransom
for many
what is
your verdict?
Do you
ignore him?
Do you
mock him?
Do you
cry out
crucify him
crucify him?
Or do you
say as
John the
Baptist
behold
the Lamb
of God
who takes
away the
sin
of the
world?
As we
come to
the Lord's
table
today
may we
behold
the Lamb
who was
led away
the Lamb
who died
for your
sin
and mine.
Quoted
from
the hymn
How Deep
the Father's
Love
Last Night
I'll quote
the last
verse of it
just now
where it
says
I will
not boast
in anything
no gifts
no power
no wisdom
but I
will boast
in Jesus
Christ
his death
and resurrection
why should I
gain from
his reward
I cannot
give an
answer
but this
I know
with all
my heart
his wounds
have paid
my ransom
by his
stripes
we are
healed
why
because the
Lamb
was
punished
the Lamb
was led
away to
die
for the
sins
of this
world
so today
may we
behold
the Lamb
of God
who takes
away
the sin
of the
world
let us
pray
our
Father
in heaven
we come
before you
just as
we are
with nothing
in our
hands to
bring to
you
but simply
to your
cross to
cling
and we
pray
today
Lord
that as
we come
to behold
the Lamb
of God
to remember
all that
he has
done
for us
to see
even the
elements
before us
the Lamb
that was
slain
to remember
what they
represent
the blood
represented
by the
wine
and the
bread
representing
the body
may you
enable us
to look
and to
see
and to
rejoice
in the
Saviour
of the
world
Jesus
Christ
our
Lord
our
King
may you
continue
with us
Lord
may you
hear our
prayers
may you
guide us
in all
that we
do
and all
that we
see
as we
ask all
with the
forgiveness
of our
sin
in Jesus
name
Amen
well before
we come
to the
Lord's
table
it's
customary
that we
would
just make
clear
who the
Lord's
table
is for
and it's
what's
often called
the fencing
of the
table
and maybe
seems a
little bit
of a
strange
thing
to call
it
fencing
what does
that
actually
mean
it's not
that we're
putting up
a great
barrier
to those
who should
and shouldn't
come
it's not
about putting
up a wall
in that sense
of you
can't come
past
but it's
just to
make it
clear
for whom
the
Lord's
table
is
it is
for those
who have
come
to
trust
in the
Lamb of
God
Jesus
Christ
I want
to highlight
just three
things
from the
word
fence
when we
think of
fence
we maybe
just think
of
crofts
and we
think of
the fences
we see
all around
our
islands
and what
are they
used
for
well they're
used
to either
keep
people
or animals
out
or in
and that's
certainly
one element
of fence
and there's
three I want
to highlight
as we come
to the
Lord's
table
from the
word
fence
the first
it means
to shield
or protect
so there is
a sense
when we come
to the
Lord's
table
it is
for a
particular
people
that is
why there
are white
tablecloths
on some
of the
pews
there is
an indication
of a
separation
there's a
divide
but it's
not in the
sense of
being
exclusive
in that
sense
but it's
just marking
the difference
there are
those who
sit on
one side
of the
fence
those who
have
professed
the
Lord
those who
have said
the Lord
is my
shepherd
but as
we see
there are
others
on the
other
side
of the
fence
where you
have not
come
to confess
the Lord
as your
shepherd
and it's
not there
to keep
you out
don't see
it like
that
it's not
the sense
of stay
away
for good
but it's
to show
that there
is another
place that
you can
come to
to come
and find
yourself
on the
right side
of the
fence
not halting
between
different
opinions
what side
of the
fence
are you
on
but to
come
to this
side
the side
where we
find
the protection
of the
Lord
because
coming to
take the
Lord's
supper
by faith
if you
believe
it will
do you
good
the second
thing we
see about
a fence
is
it
encloses
for those
who come
confessing
and professing
Jesus Christ
as Lord
there is a
sense of
being
enclosed
together
strengthened
together
we are
no longer
the sheep
who have
gone astray
we are not
out
wandering
away
by
ourselves
away
from
God
we are
gathered
together
as one
body
in
Christ
and we
are
seeking
to be
strengthened
together
to be
nourished
together
by the
shepherd
of the
sheep
so we
are
enclosed
together
we are
given
strength
and
encouragement
and we
rejoice
when the
number of
the flock
is added
to
when there
are those
who come
to profess
Christ
as Lord
and come
into
membership
with
ourselves
we are
encouraged
we are
blessed
as we
are enclosed
together
one
in
Christ
but the
word
fence
has another
quite
different
meaning
and it
means
fencing
or to
fence
to fight
with a
sword
I don't
know if
anybody
has ever
tried
it
you see
it
I think
it's
part of
the
Olympic
Games
they have
these
fencing
competitions
and they're
fighting each
other with a
sword
and in
some ways
that reminds
us what
the Lord's
table
is like
as well
because
there's often
a fight
going on
a fight
going on
of the
battle
of coming
to acknowledge
the Lord
and who
is
Lord
but as
we look
to the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
and trust
in him
we are
reminded
that he
has won
the victory
when you
go back
to the
book of
Genesis
when the
man and
the woman
were cast
out of
the garden
of Eden
there was
a flaming
sword
that was
to protect
them from
getting back
in
the axis
was denied
but when
we look
to Jesus
Christ
we find
in him
the victory
that he
has broken
down
that barrier
that he
has fought
that fight
for us
and that we
have access
once more
to God
we are to
come
victorious
in him
he has
opened
up
the way
so the
fencing
is important
it does
show that
there is
a division
but it's
not a divide
that we
want always
there
we want
others
to come
because it
means
enclosing
together
coming near
to God
together
as one
and remembering
the victory
of Christ
well as
we prepare
to come
to the
Lord's
table
we're going
to sing
to God's
praise
in Psalm
118
the Scottish
Psalter
version of
the Psalm
Psalm 118
we're going
to sing
from verse
15
to verse
23
page 398
of the
psalm books
Psalm 118
at verse
15
we'll sing
from verse
15
to verse
23
to God's
praise
B
The bright hand of the mighty Lord, exalted is all night.
The bright hand of the mighty Lord, the faithful, valiantly.
I shall not die, but live and shall the works of God discover.
The Lord not be just eyes and sore, but not to death in over.
O set ye open unto me, the gates of righteousness.
Then will I enter into them, and I the Lord will bless.
This is the gate of God, I am, that I shall enter in.
The gate of God, I am, that I shall not be.
And so this make a cornerstone, which builders did despise.
This is the doing of the Lord, and wondrous in our eyes.