Well, begin our worship this evening.
We're going to sing to God's praise in Psalm 116,
the Scottish Psalter version on page 395 of the Psalm books.
Psalm 116, page 395.
We're going to sing from the beginning of the Psalm
down to the verse marked eight.
I love the Lord because my voice and prayers he did hear.
I, while I live, will call on him who bowed to me his ear.
Of death the chords and sorrows did about me compass round.
The pains of hell took hold on me, I grief and trouble found.
We'll sing from verse one to verse eight to God's praise
and we stand to sing.
I love the Lord because my voice
and where she did hear.
My wife, I live with all of him who bowed to me his ear.
Of death the chords and sorrows did about me compass round.
The pains of hell took hold on me, I grief and trouble found.
Upon the name of God the Lord.
Then did I call and say,
He delivered the Lord.
My soul, O Lord.
I do the humbling praise.
God merciful and righteousness.
He gracious is our Lord.
God merciful and sorrows did about me, I was brought home.
He did be held upon.
God merciful and sorrows did about me, I was brought home.
He sang to me, I was brought home to God.
In thy quiet rest
For God's below
The Lord to thee
His bounty hath expressed
For my distress
And soul from death
Delivered caused by thee
Thou gives my pouring eyes
From tears, my feet
Of falling free
We'll come to God in prayer.
Let us pray.
Our gracious Father in heaven,
as we come to offer up our praise
to you and you this evening,
we thank you for the words
which we have shared
in praise to you
that we can come
echoing the words of the psalmist
that we can love you
because you have heard
our voice and our prayer.
And we thank you
that your promise is
that you will always hear your people,
that your ear is towards
all who call upon you.
And we thank you
that there is such a great privilege
in prayer,
such a blessing to us
to know that in our needs
and in our helplessness
that you are a God
who hears
and is always there for us.
We thank you
that as we look through the psalms
we see the great experience
of the variety of psalmists
and the positions
and situations
that they found themselves in.
And so often, Lord,
we recognize ourselves in them,
whether it's going astray
and away from you,
whether it's in times
of sorrow and distress,
whether it's in times
of questioning
and uncertainty,
or whether it's in times
of great rejoicing and praise.
We thank you
that our experiences
are echoed
in these words so often.
And we pray tonight, Lord,
that we will enter in
to these words
and to the experience of them,
that we will hear
your words speaking to us,
that you are the one
who is able to deliver us
and to give us
great rest for our soul.
We thank you
that there is that reminder
that we are a people
who are perishing,
for we are a sinful people.
We are living
in the midst
of a sinful world,
and our hearts are wicked
beyond all
that we could imagine.
But we thank you
that your word reminds us
that you have sent your son
into this world
because of our sin,
that he came
to save us
from our sin.
And we thank you
that your word
is a word of hope,
a word of hope
even in our most troubled times.
So we pray
that you will bless
your word to us
together this evening,
and indeed bless it to us
in this week ahead as well
as we look forward
with a sense
of anticipation
and prayerful preparations
as we will come,
God willing,
to prepare ourselves
for the Lord's Supper
and all being well
to partake in it
next week.
We thank you, Lord,
for these seasons
and for being able
to meet once again
in this way
after a period
when things have been
so different.
And we pray
that there will be
a sense of urgency
and longing
for us to meet
with you
in the midst
of your word
and sacrament.
And so we pray
that you will help us
to prepare our hearts
for it,
to prayerfully approach
each day of the week
and pray for the services
to take place.
Your word preached
and those who will preach,
preach your word to us
in our fellowship together.
And in your people's hearts,
Lord,
may you encourage us
and build us up.
May you draw people
to yourself.
May you help those
even now
who may be wondering
of what they should do
of coming to the Lord's table,
feeling unworthy,
feeling unprepared,
feeling undeserving
of the least
of your mercies.
But yet that's the way
we all come.
We recognize
we do not deserve
it in and of ourselves,
but that we are
to look to Jesus,
the one who took our place,
the one whose death
we come to remember,
the one who we can trust in,
the one who we can
put all our hope in,
for he has done
all that we could not.
And so we pray
that you will encourage us
all in our hearts
to hear and see
of the wonder of Jesus Christ,
the one who died
for our sins,
but greater than that,
who rose again,
and whoever lives
making intercession
for us even now
at the right hand
of God the Father.
So as we come
in our prayers,
we come in his name,
seeking your goodness
and mercy upon us
and seeking your blessing
on us as a church
and as a church
throughout the world,
as your people
gather in your name
throughout this day.
We pray, Lord,
that your kingdom
will be blessed,
that you will be
bringing many sinners
into repentance
and into salvation,
into your kingdom.
We pray, Lord,
that you will continue
to pour out
your blessing upon us
as a nation
at this time,
undeserving as we are,
yet still we see
your hand upon us.
We see your hand upon us
in teaching
and rebuking,
but we see your hand upon us
in encouragement as well,
that there are people
who are seeking after you,
that there are those
who in the midst
of some of the greatest turmoil
maybe we've ever experienced
in our own lives,
who are looking to you
and recognizing
how frail a people we are,
but how great a God you are.
And so we pray
that as you continue
to teach us
many hard lessons,
that we will recognize
your grace and your love
and your mercy towards us,
and that if we as a nation
would repent and turn
and seek you as our God
and as our Lord,
what a blessing that would be
and the blessing that would be ours
poured out from heaven.
So, Lord, we pray
that you will rule over us
in the midst of these days,
rule over those
who are our nation's rulers,
that they would recognize
that they must bow the knee
before you,
give wisdom and guidance
to all who would seek
to lead us
in every aspect of life,
be it in our governments,
in our councils,
in any line of work
where there are decisions
that affect us
as a nation
and as a people.
We pray, Lord,
for your mercy and grace
when we think of
the trying times
we face in terms of
financial crisis
and pressures upon people.
We pray, Lord,
that the hearts of those
who are so often greedy
for more,
although they have so much,
it's never enough
and no matter
the consequences of others,
they seem to just want more.
We pray, Lord,
that you will change
the hearts that are greedy
for financial gain
in this world
to hearts that are filled
with mercy,
hearts that will show favor
and help
and kindness
towards others.
We know, Lord,
we live in a world
where we so often hear it said,
the rich are getting richer
and the poor are getting poorer.
But we know that
to know Christ
and to have him
would be to make us rich
beyond all comparison.
So we pray for
rich and poor,
young and old,
everyone to come
to know and to understand
the love of Christ,
that love that is beyond
all comparison.
So we pray, Lord,
your mercy upon us
and we pray, Lord,
that you will go before us
in this week ahead
as well as we look forward
to the time of communion season
in our midst.
We pray your blessing
on all the services
that will take place
and upon every preacher
who will minister in our midst.
May you help them
as they prepare
for the services
in these coming days.
We pray for each of them, Lord,
that you will bless them
and use them to your glory
and for our blessing here.
We pray for Reverend
Kenneth Ferguson
for the Thursday evening service.
We thank you
for his years of ministry
and his willingness
to serve in so many ways.
We pray that you will bless
that time around your word there.
We pray for Emma Critchie
and Paul Murray
as they come on the Friday evening.
May you bless them
and use them too.
We pray for Reverend
James McKeever
and Reverend Colin McLeod too
as they minister
over the weekend
and the sacrament
of the Lord's Supper.
May you bless them, Lord,
and encourage them.
And may we be ever
prayerful towards them.
We thank you
that even in this past week,
Mr. McKeever
has celebrated 35 years
in the ministry.
We pray you'll continue
to bless him
in his ministry here
and further afield as well.
Thanking you
for the congregations
he's been in in the past,
for East Kilbride
and for Point.
And we pray for the congregation
here as well,
Lord,
and his ministry here.
May you bless each one
and may you continue
to help us
to know your goodness
with us
all the days of our lives.
So we continue
to seek your face now
as we worship you
and as we turn to your word,
as we sing your praise.
May you draw near to us
as we seek
to draw near to you.
We ask all things,
confessing our sins
before you anew,
that we are a people
who fall short
of your glory,
who sin daily
in thought,
word,
and in deed.
But we thank you
that in Christ
there is rich forgiveness.
So we come
confessing anew
and looking to him,
asking for your mercy
upon us as a people,
that you'll go with us now.
We ask all in Jesus' name
and for his sake.
Amen.
We're going to sing again
to God's praise,
this time in Psalm 139
in the Scottish Psalter.
Psalm 139 on page 432.
We're going to sing
from verse 1
down to verse 10.
O Lord,
thou hast me searched
and known,
thou knowest
my sitting down
and rising up.
Yea, all my thoughts
afar to thee are known,
my footsteps
and my lying down
thou compassest always.
Thou also most entirely
art acquaint
with all my ways.
We'll sing
from verse 1 to 10
to God's praise
and we stand to sing.
Amen.
O Lord,
thou hast me searched,
and thus,
anche onen of the nations
and endure his name
again.
I have come to autre
the star of 632.
If one of the nations
или reach,
or 100% of the nations
may have come to Thee
and above the nations
and where he hailed
of mine as I know.
I have come to say
though God isMI
above us will.
Our Lord
My footsteps
And my lying
God
Thou God
Passest always
Thou also
Holds
My entire
Yard
I'll wait
With all my
Ways
For in
My tongue
Before
I speak
Not any
Work
Can be
But
All
Together
O
Lord
It is
Well
Long to
Thee
Behind
Before
The
Past
We
And
Live
On
Thee
From
Thy
Sand
Thine
Thee
From
Thy
Thee
There is in hell I lie.
Take I the morning wings and dwell
in utmost parts of sea.
In heaven, Lord, shall thy hand be me,
thy right hand hold shall be.
If we could turn together now, we'll read in God's word
in the beginning of the Old Testament in the book of Genesis.
I'm reading in Genesis chapter 3.
I'm going to read the whole of this chapter.
Genesis chapter 3 and the whole of this chapter.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field
that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman,
Did God actually say,
You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?
And the woman said to the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,
but God said,
You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree
that is in the midst of the garden,
neither shall you touch it,
lest you die.
But the serpent said to the woman,
You will not surely die,
for God knows that when you eat of it,
your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God,
knowing good and evil.
So when the woman saw that the tree
was good for food,
and that it was a delight to the eyes,
and that the tree was to be desired
to make one wise,
she took out its fruit and ate.
And she also gave some to her husband,
who was with her,
and he ate.
And the eyes of both were opened,
and they knew that they were naked,
and they sewed fig leaves together
and made themselves loincloths.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God
walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
And the man and his wife hid themselves
from the presence of the Lord God
among the trees of the garden.
But the Lord God called to the man
and said to him,
Where are you?
And he said,
I heard the sound of you in the garden,
and I was afraid,
because I was naked,
and I hid myself.
He said,
Who told you that you were naked?
Have you eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you not to eat?
The man said,
The woman whom you gave to me
to be with me,
she gave me fruit of the tree,
and I ate.
Then the Lord said to the woman,
What is this that you have done?
The woman said,
The serpent deceived me,
and I ate.
The Lord God said to the serpent,
Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock,
and above all beasts of the field.
On your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
between your offspring and her offspring.
He shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.
To the woman he said,
I will surely multiply your pain
and childbearing.
In pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.
And to Adam he said,
Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,
and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you,
you shall not eat of it.
Cursed is the ground because of you.
In pain you shall eat of it
all the days of your life.
Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground.
For out of it you were taken,
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.
The man called his wife's name Eve,
because she was the mother of all living.
And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife
garments of skins and clothed them.
And the Lord God said,
Behold, the man has become like one of us
in knowing good and evil.
Now lest he reach out his hand
and take also the tree of life
and eat and live forever.
Therefore the Lord God sent him out
from the garden of Eden
to work the ground from which he was taken.
He drove out the man,
and at the east of the garden of Eden
he placed the cherubim
and a flaming sword that turned every way
to guard the way to the tree of life.
So I want to make God bless
that reading from his word.
Before we turn back to that passage,
we'll again sing to God's praise this time
in the Singed Psalms version of Psalm 56.
Psalm 56.
We find this on page 73.
We're singing from verse 1 to verse 9.
Oh my God, show mercy to me.
Men would take my life away.
Hostile forces press upon me.
They pursue me all the day.
Slanderers are close behind me.
They pursue me all day long.
In their arrogance they hound me.
They are numerous and strong.
We'll sing from verse 1 to verse 9.
To God's praise and we stand to sing.
O my God, your mercy to me.
Men would take my life away.
All sad forces press upon me.
They pursue me all day long.
All day long.
They are numerous and strong.
When they are no guards without me.
They are numerous and strong.
When they are no guards without me.
They are numerous and strong.
When I am afraid and trusting.
I will praise your faithful word.
I will trust and not be fearful.
What can man do to me, Lord?
All day long.
They platter hardly.
Twisting everything I say.
They will praise my heart.
They will praise the Lord.
And I will praise the Lord.
All day long.
To take my life away.
Let them all dishing their anger, ring the nations down, O Lord.
In your hope, write my entreaties, in your scroll my tears record.
When I call on you to help me, then my faults will turn aside.
This is how I will be certain, that my God is on my side.
Amen.
Well, if we can turn together to our reading in Genesis chapter 3.
I want us to read again at verse 8.
Genesis chapter 3, reading at verse 8.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you?
And so on.
But God willing, this coming week, we look forward to a time of communion season in our midst.
And we come to remember the Lord's death.
But we ask ourselves as we look forward to it, what is it that we are remembering in the Lord's death?
What is the reason for his death?
But we look at ourselves, we examine ourselves, and we turn to Scripture,
and we see what God is saying to us through his word is that we as a people are a fallen people.
That is, that our relationship with God has been marred by sin.
And in order to be made right once again with God,
something had to take place to restore that relationship,
to make right that relationship, a price had to be paid.
And the price that was paid was ultimately that the Lord Jesus came to give his life.
Everything that was foreshadowed in the Old Testament,
where you read through it and you see the whole sacrificial system,
where sacrifices were offered to have forgiveness of sin,
bringing it to the high priest once a year.
We see ultimately that pointing to a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
The way to God was barred to his people,
but a way was opened up once again through the death of the Lord Jesus.
And really it takes us back to the roots here in Genesis,
in Genesis chapter 3,
where we see the coming of sin into the world
and how we are all marred by this sin.
And the way back to God was cut off,
as you see at the end of chapter 3,
where the cherubim were there to protect the way to God.
And then we see that the man was cast out,
cast out of the garden to work the ground in hard toil.
But it's a chapter that reminds us too of the wonder of God's grace.
That God didn't give to them what they deserved,
but that he still showed mercy towards them.
And this is the mercy that is shown to us in Christ Jesus.
That in him we have one who is able still to take away our sins,
to make us right with God.
So as we look at this passage tonight,
I want to think about it in light of one of the questions
that we see in this chapter.
I want to ask ourselves that question this evening.
But first of all, what's the hardest question
you have ever had to answer?
What's the hardest question you've ever had to answer?
We all find ourselves maybe in situations
where we face up to questions,
be it from someone around us
or in a setting that we find ourselves in,
where someone asks us a question.
And we maybe think to yourself,
I'm just not sure how I might answer this question.
There'll be some teenagers in here tonight
or maybe listening in.
And over the last few months,
you've had to sit in a classroom situation,
sitting exams.
And sometimes when you sit in an exam,
you turn over the question sheet
and you look at the question,
you just think to yourself,
oh, I just didn't see that question coming.
I'm just not sure how I'm going to try
and answer that question.
Such a difficult question.
We're always maybe facing up to situations
where we have difficult questions
we have to try and answer.
Well, as we look at this chapter,
we are reminded of one of the most serious questions
that we have to face up to.
And maybe it's a question we've answered in the past.
And maybe you thought,
I'm okay.
I'm fine.
Everything's well in my life.
Everything's going fine.
But then you find yourself coming into a situation
where the Lord begins to open your eyes
and to open your heart.
And as he asks this question again,
you begin to think to yourself,
well, actually,
is everything okay in my life?
Is where I am now,
am I right with God?
Or is there something that needs to change?
What we find in this chapter,
in Genesis chapter 3,
is the account of what is called the fall,
where sin came into the world,
where man's relationship with God
was ruined in a sense.
And yet where God shows mercy.
The shorter Catechson puts it well
when he speaks about
what man entered into
in the beginning with God
is called a covenant.
This relationship,
this bond with God,
and it was called a covenant of life.
And everything was good and well in the garden.
But the covenant had a condition.
And the condition was perfect obedience.
And as you read through chapter 3,
you realize where this obedience was broken.
Where the serpent,
the crafty serpent,
came into the garden with his own questions,
leading them away from God.
And this question that brought them
to a place where they sinned.
They broke God's law.
They broke their covenant relationship with him.
The Catechson again says,
the fall brought mankind
into an estate of sin and misery.
And this chapter alone,
chapter 3,
makes it clear for us
what this misery was.
hard labor,
a relationship ruined with God,
cast out of the garden,
ultimately the pain of death.
It also brought with it
many other difficulties
and trials and temptations.
And they are all things
that we can relate to today as well.
We live in a world
where sin is all around us,
but it's not just out there.
Sin is in here.
Sin is in our heart.
In our own hearts tonight,
there is sin because we sin
daily in thought,
word and deed.
You don't have to think too hard
to think today,
well, how have I sinned?
I'm sure all of us
can immediately just think of ways
we've fallen short,
ways we've sinned,
something we've said,
something we've done,
or more often than not,
something we've thought.
The sins that we think
that nobody else sees,
but God knows.
So what's the solution for us
in this situation
where we think to yourself tonight
and we all think it may be,
well, here I am,
just a miserable sinner,
the chief of sinners
as Paul describes himself.
What can we do?
What's the answer for us?
Well, it's not to keep asking questions
of ourselves.
We can often ask questions
of ourselves,
but it's to hear the questions
that God asks.
And in the midst of the garden setting here,
when Adam and Eve had sinned against God,
when they disobeyed his command,
what happened to them?
They heard the sound of the Lord God.
He was walking in the garden
in the cool of the day
and they hid themselves.
That's not the answer for us.
It wasn't the answer for them,
as we will see.
The answer when we recognize
that we fall short,
when we're sinners,
is not to try and hide ourselves from God,
not to try and push God away,
the answer is to come near to God
and to see that he is a God
that is inviting us in,
inviting us back.
And that is what we see God doing here.
In the midst of everything that's happened,
God comes with this question
that we have in verse 9.
But the Lord God called to the man
and said to him,
Where are you?
And it's that question
I want us to ponder this evening.
It's one of the hardest questions
you'll maybe have to give answer to.
Where are you?
As we remember who is asking that question,
it is God, the Lord.
And there are three things
I want us to take from that question
this evening.
The first is this,
the nature of the question.
Secondly, the nurture of the question.
And thirdly, the need of the question.
So firstly, we see the nature
of this question.
What do we see of this question?
In the nature of it,
what kind of question is it?
The Lord God called to the man
and said to him,
Where are you?
It's very much a penetrating question.
It's a cutting question.
It's a question that Adam and Eve
are hearing,
believing they've hid themselves
from God.
But God's asking them
this penetrating question.
It's not like a question
that you or I would ask
when we don't know the answer.
Because God has a knowledge of us
that we can never have.
We maybe ask questions like this
in a frustrated situation
where we're thinking,
we're looking for our keys.
Where are they?
Where did I leave them?
Or maybe we're trying to drive
to a certain place
and we're saying to ourselves,
Which turning is it?
Where do we go?
Where do we turn?
We ask these questions
and we don't know
the answers to them.
But God asks the question here,
not because he doesn't know
where they are.
He knows exactly
where they are.
This is not a game of
hide and seek
that God is playing with them.
It's not like us
as small children
or little children
playing with our friends
and we try and go
and hide somewhere
and someone's trying to find us
and they're becoming frustrated
and they're,
where are you?
Will you not just come out?
This is not God
playing a game.
God is asking this question
in a much more serious way.
He knows
where they are.
And Matthew Henry
says in his commentary
on this verse
that he's not asking
this question
in the sense of
it's not
what place
are they.
What he's asking is
in what condition
are they?
Where are you
in the sense
of what condition
you're in?
And that's
the nature
of this question.
It's a penetrating
question.
God isn't asking you
tonight
where are you?
And your answer is
I'm sitting in the church
in Kenneth Street.
That's not the question
that God is asking you here.
The question
he's asking you here
is
where are you
in the sense of
what condition
are you in?
What condition
are you in
in your relationship
with God?
Do you realize
what you've done?
Adam and Eve
are hearing
this question.
God's question
has come as a result
of their response
to the question
that Satan
the serpent
had asked them earlier.
Did God
really say
that you would die?
He had come
with his crafty
questions.
He put doubt
into their relationship
with God
and saying
can God
really be trusted?
That's so often
the condition
we've been in
ourselves.
Maybe we've heard
of God
all our days
growing up
but now
we want to
put him away
and there's a doubt
that comes in.
Is God real?
Can God
be trusted?
But then
God comes
with his
own question.
God comes
and asks you
tonight
but where
are you?
Where are you
now?
What has
all of your life
done?
All that you thought
you could get away
with?
All the ways
you thought
you could run
away from me
and hide
and just
go on
with your life
in the way
that was pleasing
to yourself?
Where are you
now?
What condition
are you in?
What is your
relationship
with me?
Where
are you?
God's word
penetrates.
God's voice
penetrates
here in the garden
and it should
penetrate into
our own
hearts
tonight
asking us
that question
where are we?
The book of
Hebrews chapter
4 verse 12
says the word
of God is
living and
active
sharper than
any two
edged sword
piercing
to the division
of soul
and spirit
of joints
and marrow
and discerning
the thoughts
and intentions
of the heart.
There's no
hiding place
from God
and his
word
penetrates.
His word
searches
into your
heart
tonight
asking you
that question
where are you?
And the
question
that goes
with it
is
what does
that
convict you
of tonight?
Where
are you?
Jesus'
question
so often
did the
same
when he
was with
his disciples
and people
were discussing
who Jesus
was.
Some people
were saying
that he was
John the
Baptist
others saying
one of the
prophets
but Jesus
asked a
searching
question of
his disciples
he said
to them
but what
about you
who do
you say
that I
am?
It's a
very similar
kind of
question
it's a
searching
question
it's a
piercing
question
who do
you say
that I
am?
where
are you?
I like
to watch
sometimes
crime
dramas
when a
crime has
been committed
and maybe
a team
is trying
to work
out who
committed
the crime
and they
have their
suspects
they bring
them in
one of the
questions
that they
often ask
is where
were you
at midnight
or a
certain
time
last night?
It's a
searching
question
it's a
question
that your
defense is
maybe going
to be based
upon
do you
have an
alibi
or can
you
do you
have no
answer to
that question
that's going
to convince
them that
you weren't
involved in
the crime?
Well God's
question comes
in the same
way tonight
as well
where are
you?
So can
you say
you've got
your alibi?
I am in
Christ
I am
entrusting
my soul
to him
I believe
in him
with all
my heart
or like
the psalmist
in Psalm
116
you're able
to say
I love
the Lord
because my
voice and
prayers he did
hear
I while I
live
will call
on him
who bowed
to me
his ear
is that
your defense
or are you
recognizing
your sin
in the sense
you've got
no defense
where are
you?
You're
outside
the camp
you're
away from
God
you're
running
you're
hiding
God is
calling you
not because
he doesn't
know where
you are
but he
knows your
condition
and the
nature of
his question
is a
piercing
one
where
are you?
But we
also see
with this
question
that there
is nurture
to this
question
God is
asking
this in
a
compassionate
way
he'll
be well
within his
rights to
come and
condemn them
for what
they've done
they've
broken the
covenant
they've
broken
the
relationship
with God
and God
was within
his rights
to cast
them away
but that's
not how
God
comes
so often
we maybe
see things
or hear
things where
a joke
has been
played on
someone
in my
younger
years
it was
Beatles
about
when
they
used
to
set
up
someone
to
maybe
have
their
card
thrashed
or something
like that
and just
filming them
and what
their reaction
would be
today it's
more
aunt and
deck
on a
Saturday
night
setting up
some
celebrity
when something
goes
wrong
and they're
just
filming them
to see
how they'll
react
there's
a funny
side
to it
but there's
not
humour
in the
way God
looks on
us
he's not
looking on
us and
thinking
well I'm
just going
to do
this to
see
how they
react
how does
God react
when we
have wronged
him
how did
Christ react
as Peter
denied him
how did
he react
on the
cross as
he looked
down and
saw those
who were
crucifying
him
the wonder
of compassion
and grace
and love
that he showed
towards his
own
so when you
look at the
question here
where are you
God within
his rights
to come
in immediate
judgment
on these
people
to condemn
them
say why
have you
done this
he could
give them
a lecture
and say
Adam
Eve
I can't
believe
what you've
done
how could
you
after all
I've done
for you
how could
you be
so stupid
but God
graciously
comes to
Adam and
Eve
asking
where
are you
there is
almost
a sense
of humor
here
when you
see
they're
trying to
hide
among
the trees
trying to
hide
themselves
from the
God
who
made
the
heavens
and
the
earth
it's
impossible
even as
we sang
in
Psalm 139
Psalm that
says you
know it
doesn't matter
where we go
in this
world
there's no
getting away
from God
whether you
take the
wings to the
utmost parts
of sea
even there
God is
there's no
hiding
there's no
getting away
from God
but God
is saying
here yes
sin must
be judged
he's not
letting that
go
and we see
that at the
cross as sin
was judged
finally as
Christ gave
his life
but God
does not
immediately
give what
sin
deserves
thank God
for his
grace
towards us
because where
would we be
without his
grace
where would
you be
tonight
without his
grace
where are
you tonight
in light
of his
grace
are you
leaning upon
it
are you
trusting
in it
we forget
the Lord
but as one
commentator
put it
he must
draw him
out of
hiding
that's what
he says
of Adam
he is a
good shepherd
who seeks
the lost
sheep
and it's
not what
God does
to us
when he
comes to
save us
from our
sin
he draws
us out
of our
hiding
place
wherever
you're
hiding
wherever
you're
running
to
you're
running
from
God
but he
will
come
and he
will
come
to draw
you
out
of
hiding
we so
easily
forget
the
Lord
our
God
and there's
consequences
for that
Deuteronomy
8
verse 11
says
take care
lest you
forget
the Lord
your God
by not
keeping
his commandments
and his
rules
and his
statutes
which I
command
you today
you know
he still
says to us
to keep
his laws
to keep
his commandments
but he knows
we cannot
keep them
perfectly
but even
when we
fail
in that
we have
a way
to salvation
that is
through
Christ
Jesus
because when
you come
into the
New Testament
you think
of the
words
of Jesus
in Matthew
11
verse 28
come to
me
all you
who labor
and are
heavy laden
and I
will give
you rest
he calls
a people
to himself
so even
as he
asks this
question
that is
nurtured
in it
where
are
you
but
there's
warning
to
he's
saying
to us
will you
listen
will you
heed
this
question
will you
recognize
your
condition
how far
short
you're
falling
when you're
running
from me
what is
your
condition
tonight
in this
sense
do you
need
the grace
of God
as we
all do
or do
you
recognize
your
need
of the
grace
of God
or maybe
you're
saying
to yourself
I know
I need
it
but I
don't
deserve
it
none
of us
do
and yet
God
by his
mercy
is able
to show
grace
there's a
story told
of a man
who was
struggling
to believe
and to
find peace
with God
and he
came to
another
Christian
friend
one day
and he
said to
him
I am
such
a
helpless
miserable
sinner
there's
no hope
for me
I've
prayed
and I've
tried
my best
and I've
vowed
until I'm
sick of
my efforts
there's
just no
hope
in my
situation
his friend
said to
him
do you
believe
that Christ
died for
your sins
and rose
again
and he
said yes
of course
I do
believe
that
his
Christian
friend
said
to
him
well
if
he
were
here
on
earth
in bodily
form
invisible
what would
you do
he said
well I
would go
to him
at once
and what
would you
ask of
him
well I
would ask
him
to forgive
my sins
and what
would he
answer
and there
was a
silence
and then
he asked
him again
what would
he answer
and then
suddenly
the man's
eyes lit
up and a
smile of
peace
came on
his face
he said
he would
answer
I will
and that's
the wonder
of God's
grace
the devil
will have
us
troubled
by our
sins
forever
if he
could
but the
word of
God
the
nurture
of it
calls us
to himself
to find
one who
is able
to forgive
as it
says in
first John
one verse
nine
if we
confess
our sins
he is
faithful and
just to
forgive us
our sins
and cleanse
us from
all
unrighteousness
may we
see the
grace of
God
the
unworthiness
because of
our sin
but see
why he
came and
come and
confess our
sins
and that he
is faithful
and just
to forgive
where are
you tonight
if you
will come
to him
and say
to him
forgive my
sins
he is
able to
say
I will
the final
thing just
briefly we
see of
this question
is the
need of
this
question
it's such
a needful
question for
us all
you know as
we approach
the Lord's
Supper
every one
of us
God willing
in this
coming week
this is a
question
we need to
ask of
ourselves
where are
you
if you
come
as one
who is
professing
faith
you will
ask yourself
that question
and you
realize
so often
we're not
where we
want to
be
so often
we feel
so far
removed
from God
so far
away
from God
we see
our sins
we know
them
only too
well
but it's
a question
that puts
us right
back to
the cross
right back
to Christ
back to
where we
need to
come always
recognizing
our
shortcomings
but recognizing
we come
to do this
in remembrance
of him
not because
of ourselves
but in
remembrance
of him
and what
he's done
and if
you are
not
professing
tonight
this
coming
week
may the
Lord
prick
you in
your
heart
asking
you this
question
where are
you
and if
you're not
right with
God
what needs
to change
it is
to come
to him
when you
look at
this
passage
the
Lord
came to
them
it says
in verse
8
in the
cool
of the
day
and
commentators
debate
and say
well what
time of
day
was this
there are
some who
would say
and go
along with
them and
say well
it's
probably
first
thing
in the
morning
the
morning
would bring
with it
a cool
wind
and the
light
would be
coming
and they
say this
is almost
indicative of
where they
were
from the
darkness
of night
knowing that
they'd
sinned
into the
light of
day when
God
calls them
and showing
there
we see
what Christ
did
how he
came
into the
darkness
of a
fallen
world
but he
came as
the light
of the
world
the light
to show
us the
way to
God
and back
to him
the human
response to
guilt
is so
often to
try and
hide
to run
away
but there's
nowhere
where we
can hide
and this
question
is needful
for ourselves
where are
we
today
in light
of this
what is
the hardest
question
you face
tonight
what is
the hardest
question
you've had
to answer
in your
life
well the
hardest
questions
are not
the questions
for ourselves
but the
question
that puts
God into
our life
and questions
prick
our hearts
one of the
greatest
questions
that challenged
me was a
question on a
tract I was
given
where will you
spend
eternity
another
important
question
and you can
only answer
that in light
of this
question
where are
you
where are
you
with God
tonight
is the
question
we need
so how
do you
answer
are you
resting
in Christ
or are you
still running
and trying
to hide
in the midst
of the
trees
like Adam
and Eve
thinking
God won't
see me
God
isn't asking
you the
question
because he
doesn't know
where you
are
he's asking
the question
because he
knows
exactly where
you are
he knows
your condition
and the
reason he's
asking
is that you
might come
and be
right with
him
so ponder
this question
tonight
and God
willing if you
have time
in the days
ahead
but don't
leave it
too long
because
eternity
depends
on your
answer
so where
are you
may you
come
and find
yourself
leaning
and resting
in Christ
and may you
come
may we all
come
to remember
him
in his grace
and his love
towards us
and do it
in remembrance
of him
let us pray
our father
in heaven
help us
to have
answers to
the questions
that you
pose to
us
and especially
the most
important
questions
of all
as we
ask ourselves
this evening
where are
we
in light
of your
word
and in
light of
your grace
in light
of all
that you
have done
for us
in Christ
Jesus
your Lord
help us
that we
will find
ourselves
resting
in him
and trusting
in him
Lord
show us
your ways
and guide
us
and forgive
us
for all
we ask
in his
name
amen
we're going
to conclude
by singing
again in
Psalm 56
in the
Sing
Psalms
version
the last
three
stanzas
from
verse 10
Psalm 56
on page
74
in the
Lord
whose
word
I
honor
in my
God
I
praise
his
word
I
will
trust
and not
be
fearful
what
can
man
do
to
me
Lord
we'll
sing
from
verse 10
down to
the
end
of
the
Psalm
to
God's
praise
word
I
will
trust
and not
be
fearful
what
can
man
do
to
me
Lord
I
have
taken
verse
before
you
to
my
God
I
will
be
true
sacrifice
of
thy
giving
I
will
gladly
give
to
you
for
you
kept
my
feet
from
stumbling
and
from
death
you
set
me
free
so
that
I
may
walk
before
you
and
the
light
of
life
may
see
after
the
benediction
I'll
go to
the
door
to
my
right
here
now
may
grace
mercy
and
peace
from
God
Father
Son
and
Holy
Spirit
rest
upon
and
abide
with
you
all
now
and
forever
more
Amen
Thank ser υ