[0:00] Well good evening to those who are in the building and those who are watching online. It's good to be able to come together and to worship God and if there are those who are watching perhaps for the first time or specifically to hear Neil Cameron's testimony. I'm looking around for Neil Cameron hoping that he's here. That's good to see. If you're tuning in to hear Neil Cameron's testimony especially whether it's live or afterwards it's good to know that you're able to join with us. We're going to begin this time of worship by singing to God's praise or Farrakhar will sing to God's praise and we'll listen and hopefully be moved within our own hearts.
[0:46] Psalm 149 and verses 1 to verse 4. Psalm 149 verses 1 to 4. Praise ye the Lord and to him sing a new song and his praise in the assembly of his saints in sweet psalms do he raise. Down to the end of verse 4. For God doth pleasure take in those that his own people are and he with his salvation the meek will beautify.
[1:15] praise ye the Lord and to him sing a new song and his praise in the assembly of his saints.
[1:45] of his saints in sweet psalms do he raise. Let Israel in his meek their joy and to him praise sing. Let all that Zion's children not be joyful in their king.
[2:30] O let them unto his great name give praises in the dance. Let them with timbrel and with harp and songs his praise in the dance. For God doth pleasure take in those that his own people be.
[3:24] and he with his salvation the meek will beautify.
[3:40] let's unite their hearts in prayer. Let's pray.
[3:51] our heavenly father we thank you for this evening we thank you for these psalms that you've given us that express the prayers of our hearts and express the praise that sometimes we find it difficult to find the words for. We thank you Lord that you're the God who seeks us that you're the God who who saves us.
[4:20] Our minds go to psalm 40. I waited for the Lord my God and patiently did bear length to me. He did incline my voice and cry to hear. He took me from the fearful pit and from the mighty clay and on a rock he set my feet establishing my way. He put a new song in my mouth.
[4:40] And we thank you Lord for the new song of salvation that you put in the mouths and in the hearts of your people. We acknowledge Lord that we are not able to save ourselves not by our works not by anything of our own merits.
[4:58] We are not able to buy our way into heaven. We're not able to to earn our way into heaven. We we cannot plead our own name or our own background as some means of negotiation with the one true God.
[5:15] We know Lord that our sin is a barrier but we thank you that Jesus your son is our savior and we thank you Lord that he is the one who died. He is the solid rock of psalm 40.
[5:31] The firm place where we can stand. He is the one who puts the new song in our mouths and we pray that you would enable us to know the the joy of that in our hearts and enable us as we're given opportunity to sing that with our voices. We thank you that we're able to hear your praise sung this evening. We look forward to days ahead where we're able to unite our voices in praise and we pray that when that day comes we would truly sing with joy with volume from our hearts and spirit and in truth for you are the God who is worthy of all our praise. You are our maker you are our sustainer and you Lord are our savior and we bow before you in worship this evening.
[6:21] We thank you Lord for the freedom that we have to worship. We thank you for the freedom that we have to share testimony as well with each other of the fact that we are your people. We can think of people in countries around the world of China and Pakistan and India and North Korea.
[6:40] So many countries where it's not possible to say out loud that we belong to the Lord Jesus without fear of persecution or losing one's life.
[6:52] We remember those who are under these pressures. We thank you for the courage that you give to them. We thank you for the encouragement and the example that they are to us when we hear the accounts of their firm and bright witness.
[7:08] We thank you for the word of Jesus. We thank you for the word of Jesus. We thank you for the word of his sins. We thank you for the new song that you have put in his mouth. We thank you for the salvation that he is able to speak of.
[7:32] speak of. We thank you for the joy of the Lord that we see in his life and we pray that you would give him the words to say as he speaks this evening about your work in his life when it began and how it has continued through the years. You're the God who is faithful and we pray that we may see that and know that each of us at this time. So bless Neil and help him we pray as he seeks to to speak to us this evening and as he speaks to praise seeks to praise you in sharing this testimony. We pray for anyone who may be here tonight or who's listening in who doesn't yet have a testimony who's not able yet to say that the Lord Jesus is their saviour and their Lord.
[8:17] We pray for any tonight who may not yet have an awareness of of the reality of sin and the danger that we are in until we find Christ the saviour. We know that every testimony is different and we know that most of our testimonies are are more gradual than they are dramatic. We may not have a a dramatic story to tell and yet we know that every life that is turned around every sinner that is saved is a miracle because we are dead in transgressions and sin and it's a work of the the resurrecting power of the Holy Spirit when our ears are opened and our eyes are opened and our hearts are brought to to life in Christ. So we pray for any who don't yet know that at this point and we ask that you would be moving in the power of the Holy Spirit even this evening. We pray for others who may know Jesus who may have known Christ for a long time and walked on the road for a long time but who are not yet standing up in saying that he is their Lord. Pray for any who may be secret believers and we ask that you would give them the courage to to step forward and and become witnesses for for Christ. We think of the prospect of gathering together for communion and in weeks to come and we ask that if there be any whom you are calling to come to the Lord's table for the first time that you would make that clear to them and that you would give them the courage to step forward and to do this in remembrance of the
[9:50] Lord Jesus. We ask that you would be with those in particular need once more Lord we are aware very aware of those who are grieving and we commit them to you. We think of Shona and we think of Kirsty with us tonight and the McKellar family and we pray that you would comfort those who grieve.
[10:12] We thank you that your promise Lord is that you will never leave us nor forsake us. We thank you that you are the God of all compassion. You are the the God of all comfort and we pray that those who grieve may know that comfort and that hope in their experience at this time and we thank you Lord for when we think of those who have passed from time to eternity. We thank you that when they are in Christ we are not left wondering what has happened to them. We thank you that we are promised that they are with you and that they join in that great assembly in heaven singing praises to God. So enable us Lord as we praise to have that in our minds that we are praising the eternal God with the hosts of heaven.
[11:01] Amen. So hear our prayers take away our sin and guide us we pray in Jesus name. Amen. If you could open your Bibles please just for a few minutes at Psalm 149.
[11:18] Psalm 149. Psalm 149. Psalm 149. Psalm 149. Psalm 149.
[11:31] Psalm 149. Just a few thoughts on this short psalm. This is God's word.
[11:50] Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song. It's praise in the assembly of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in their maker. Let the people of Zion be glad in their king.
[12:03] Let them praise his name with dancing. And make music to him with tambourine and harp. For the Lord takes delight in his people. He crowns the humble with salvation.
[12:16] Let the saints rejoice in this honor. And sing for joy in their beds. May the praise of God be in their mouths. And a double-edged sword in their hands.
[12:26] To inflict vengeance on the nations. And punishment on the peoples. To bind their kings with fetters. Their nobles with shackles of iron. To carry out the sentence written against them.
[12:39] This is the glory of all the saints. His saints. Praise the Lord. Amen. And may God bless that reading of his word to us.
[12:57] We're looking forward to hearing Neil share testimony with us. In about 10 minutes time. And I wondered what to read. Before Neil would share testimony.
[13:11] And so I decided to read the next psalm that we were due to come to. Psalm 149. And as I read the psalm. I realized quite quickly that.
[13:22] It's a psalm that gives a very fitting introduction. To a testimony even. I phoned Neil. On Wednesday morning. I think it was Neil.
[13:33] That's when I ruined this week. And I asked him if he'd be willing to. To share his testimony this evening. And. Initially he was a little hesitant. As I think almost.
[13:45] Any of us would be. I mean it's not an easy thing to stand up. And to speak before. A congregation. Even a congregation. As nice as yourselves. It's a nerve wracking thing.
[13:58] To stand. Here. And to. And to speak. Especially when. You can only see. One small proportion of the congregation. There's another part behind the camera. That we can't see. And so Neil.
[14:10] He had some reservations about. About sharing testimony. But he agreed to do it. And the question is why.
[14:20] Why? Why would you put yourself in a position. Where you're uncomfortable. Where you're feeling nervous. For a few days. When you have the opportunity.
[14:31] To say actually. No I'm not going to bother. And the reason that he agreed to do it. I know. Is because he wants to take this opportunity. To praise the Lord.
[14:43] Not to praise himself. Not to speak of himself. But to praise the Lord. And we can see from this psalm. That it's full of encouragement.
[14:54] To God's people. To praise the Lord. It begins. And it ends with these words. Praise the Lord. And so before I hand over to Neil.
[15:06] I want to ask just two. Simple questions tonight. And the first question is. How do we praise the Lord? And the second question is. Why do we praise the Lord?
[15:17] So first of all. How do we praise the Lord? Because it's a phrase. Even if we're not thinking about. Being in church. This is a phrase. That we'll hear. In common speak.
[15:30] In all kinds of contexts. People will say. Praise the Lord. Think about we Gordon Thompson. From the Faith Mission. You can't be five minutes in his company. Without hearing him saying.
[15:41] Praise the Lord. But how do we praise the Lord? Well if we have this psalm open before us. We can ask the question.
[15:53] How did they back then. In Psalm 149 days. How did they praise the Lord? And you can see. Just stepping through the verses there. That they praised the Lord with singing.
[16:05] Verse 1. In the Assembly of the Saints. In church. They praised the Lord. They praised the Lord with a freshness. Not a staleness.
[16:17] But it was a freshness. There was that new song. Of salvation in their mouths. They praised the Lord. Verse 2. With gladness.
[16:28] And with joy. Recognizing that God was their maker. And their king. Amazing thing to think. That the God. Who is behind everything that we see.
[16:41] In the beauty of creation here. We can know him. We can speak to him. He listens to us. He's our maker. And so they praised the Lord.
[16:54] With gladness and joy. Recognizing that he's their maker. And their king. Verse 3. They praised the Lord. With dancing. And music. So how do we praise the Lord?
[17:07] Well we have teaching here. In the Psalm. As we apply this to ourselves. About how we are to praise the Lord. We should praise the Lord. Verse 1. As part of a gathering of God's people.
[17:20] In the Assembly of the Saints. We should make it a priority. To be in church. I think actually. We should also make it a priority.
[17:32] To be with the Lord's people in our houses. I think I'm right in saying that from tomorrow. We're able to meet in each other's houses. In small numbers. Well.
[17:43] We should do that. We've been so long out of each other's houses. That we should make it a priority. To actually get together with other believers. To encourage each other. We should sing praises to God.
[17:58] Verse 1. As Farrakhar did. And hopefully we'll all be able to unite our voices. In due course. To be able to praise the Lord. With song again soon. There should be verse 2.
[18:09] A joy. And gladness in our praise. We shouldn't be checking our shoes all the time. Looking up here. And looking up there. And thinking about this.
[18:20] And thinking about that. We should be joyful. And glad. As we think about who our God is. And what he's done for us.
[18:33] We should verse 3. Make music. As we heard. Or we will hear. We never heard yet. But we should make music. Not just with our mouths.
[18:45] But with the stringed instrument. As we find so often in the Psalms. To glorify God. And some of you are stepping through the verses just now.
[18:57] With half a smile on. Thinking what's he going to do with the next one? What about dancing? What about the tambourine? Well.
[19:10] I think in some churches. They probably. That probably comes quite naturally to them. I've been in some church contexts. Not in this country. Where. That's something that seems to.
[19:23] To come very naturally to them. Probably not so much here. Maybe the Scottish equivalent of. Of dancing. And the tambourine would be gentle swaying.
[19:36] And the odd foot tap. I'm not sure. Some of the commentators. Are at great pains to point out. This was a. A great victory day for Israel. When they sang. This song.
[19:47] These were special celebrations. Dancing shoes and tambourines. Didn't normally come into the. The temple or the tabernacle. So this isn't prescriptive. Say some commentators.
[19:59] We don't. Have to do that. And that may come as a relief. To some. I don't think my dancing skills. Would be any great expression. Of praise to God.
[20:12] Then if we move to verse 5. Still asking. How do we praise the Lord? We learn more about. How they praise the Lord. Verse 5. Says that they praise the Lord.
[20:22] On their beds. Which means. In the security. In the privacy. Of their. Of their own homes. They praised God there. They had the books.
[20:34] As. I used to hear. When I was a. A wee boy. I'm all the homes. Whether. They were Christian homes. Or not. Used to. Have the books.
[20:45] Before bed. And God's word. Would be read. And. There would be a. A time of prayer. And. A time of praise. And I think.
[20:57] Again. We've got a teaching point here. Probably hits us. Today. In our culture. We should praise the Lord. In our homes. Do we have family worship?
[21:12] Well. We should. We should. Come together. Behind closed doors. As families. On our beds. On our couches.
[21:25] Around dinner tables. To open God's word. And to worship him. That's how we praise the Lord. And then from verses 6.
[21:38] To verse 9. The psalm takes a kind of. A strange turn. We might think. Because it's almost. War language. In that section. We need about. Double-edged swords.
[21:49] And going out. With a double-edged sword. And there's warnings. Here about God's judgment. And that too. Seems to be something. To do with. How we praise the Lord.
[21:59] So. What does that mean for us? Do we go out. With swords. Trying to. Aggressively. Persuade people. To believe. Do we go out.
[22:10] In force. To make war. With unbelievers. Well. No. We know better than. Than to do that. The sword. Represents God's word.
[22:22] Hebrews 4. 12. Says. For the word of God. Is active. Is living and active. Sharper than any. Double-edged sword. It penetrates. Even to dividing. Soul and spirit.
[22:33] Joints and marrow. It judges. The thoughts. And attitudes. Of the heart. So part of our. Praise of God. Is for us. To go out that door. Not just come in this place.
[22:45] But to go out the door. With God's word. Because God's word. Is not so much heard. Today. In the public place. So if. People are to hear it.
[22:57] We're to take it. If we're believers. We're to tell people. About God's word. We're to share. God's word.
[23:09] We're to tell people. About the danger. That they're in. If they. Do not turn. To God. Tell them.
[23:20] About the bad news. Of God's judgment. For those who do not believe. We need to have the courage. And the love. To do that. But we also need to tell them.
[23:31] The good news. About who God is. And what he's done for us. Because people don't know. And that takes us to the.
[23:41] The second question. And the. The epicenter of this psalm. We thought about how we praise the Lord. Very briefly. So why do we praise the Lord?
[23:52] That's the. The second question. And we have the answer in verse four. It says. For the Lord takes delight in his people. He crowns the humble. With salvation.
[24:04] And that's the good news. There's two reasons. That we're given there. That answer the question. Why do we praise the Lord? Reason one.
[24:15] He delights in us. Can we grasp that? The God of heaven and earth. He takes delight in his people.
[24:31] Not only did he make us. But he loves us. He desires that none would perish. That's what it says in 2 Peter 3 and 9.
[24:46] He delights to see his people saved. Sometimes we forget this. Sometimes we.
[24:58] We might even. Question this. When our mood is low. When things. Are not going well. We start to wonder.
[25:10] Is God. Is he with us? Or is he somewhere far away? Sometimes we don't feel like he loves us. Sometimes we don't feel.
[25:24] Like he delights in us. But we have the promise here. He does delight in us. And if you want the evidence.
[25:35] Of that delight. Then we have that. And the second thing. Why do we praise the Lord? Firstly because he delights in us. And secondly. Finally. Because he delivers us.
[25:47] Not only does he delight in us. But he delivers us. From the sin. That was destroying us. He crowns the humble.
[25:57] With salvation. We know God loves us. Because he gave his one and only son. So that. Whoever believes in him. Shall not perish.
[26:08] But have everlasting life. We know God delights in us. Because of Jesus. Jesus came to this world.
[26:24] God the son. Went to a cross. To take the judgment for sin. That I deserved. And you deserved. So that we could be delivered from sin.
[26:34] So that we could be snatched. From the enemy. So that we could avoid hell. And have a place.
[26:46] Secured for us. In heaven. Jesus came to this world. He felt the sword of God's wrath.
[26:56] Strike him. On the cross. And he felt that. He experienced that. He took that. So that we could be offered.
[27:09] Terms of eternal peace. So that we could receive the crown. Of salvation. And how do we receive that crown?
[27:24] Do we earn it through our good works? No. Do we earn it through our good religion? No.
[27:36] So how do we receive this salvation? Well we just bow. In humility. Before Jesus.
[27:49] Confessing our sin. Believing in him. And we are promised. That we will not perish. But we will be saved.
[28:04] We will be delivered. Through the grace. Of the God. Who delights. In his people. And when we think about that.
[28:19] Surely. Our response. Is. To praise him. Why do we praise him? He delights in us. How do we know he delights in us?
[28:32] Because he delivered us. In Christ. We are going to hear. We are going to hear. The praise that has been chosen. By Neil sung. Just now. By Farrakhar.
[28:43] It is a song from. The songs of victory. We do not have it in our hymn book. But it is entitled. Abundant salvation. Through Jesus. I know.
[28:54] And after we have heard this hymn sung. I will ask Neil to come up. And to share testimony please. Abundant salvation.
[29:23] Through Jesus I know. Rich dreams of refreshing. From Calvary flow.
[29:36] Believing his word. With rejoicing I see. The fountain of blessing.
[29:47] Is flowing for me. Alive evermore. He is a saviour indeed.
[29:59] His fullness surpassing. My uttermost need. His bounty is royal.
[30:13] Exceeding my plea. The fountain of blessing. Is flowing for me.
[30:24] The strength in temptation. The victory to gain.
[30:35] Their sunshine in darkness. Uncomfort in pain. The splendorous redemption.
[30:48] In Jesus is free. The fountain of blessing. Is flowing for me.
[31:01] The brightening waves of the river of peace.
[31:11] And joy fresh and sparkling. Find happy in grace. All honour and glory.
[31:24] Dear saviour to thee. The fountain of blessing. Is flowing for me.
[31:37] The fountain of blessing. The fountain of blessing. Is flowing for me. The fountain of gift.
[32:03] Well, good evening to you all and thank you for giving me the opportunity to share that word of testimony.
[32:20] At one time in my life I didn't have a testimony, a testimony of Jesus and his goodness to us.
[32:31] But before I start I am going to wish our dear minister a happy birthday.
[32:44] And we thank God for his preaching and we wish you and your family God's richest blessing.
[33:01] And my memory fails me at times so I do write things down but I think I should be really a doctor because I can hardly read my own writing.
[33:17] So I'm very conscious of that camera. But there is another camera on us as well.
[33:30] The camera of God in heaven and his radar and his on us from the time of birth to death.
[33:41] And so with that I think that I hope that my testimony will be a help to anyone who is listening.
[34:09] That God would be glorified above everything else. I was born and brought up in Clwyd.
[34:23] We're five of a family. Three boys, two girls, two of us are still living, Morag, in Scadabay and myself. Now when I was just seven years old, my father died.
[34:42] And the best memory I have of him is taking me as a wee boy by the hand over to the bar and making me go on my knees beside him.
[34:57] And he's praying with me and praying for me. Now I can't remember that prayer but I am thankful to have godly parents.
[35:10] It's a wonderful upbringing. And when we were growing up, everybody went to church except the ones that were not reaching school age.
[35:26] I think nowadays it's more different. And especially what a joy it was for us this morning here to see Iona, Andrew and Joseph John in here introduced to the church at that very early age.
[35:50] And to see Finlay John going to the Sunday school. And I think it's just amazing and it's great to have them coming to the house of God at that very age.
[36:08] And I need to put on my binocular. So when we used to go to church, and of course I might tell you my name is Neil Cameron McKinnon.
[36:42] And some people have been asking me why is Neil Cameron and the rest of your family is McKinnon. Well, that's my middle name.
[36:56] And I was called after a minister in the Free Presbyterian Church. But unfortunately I'm not like a minister. But I thank God for his goodness.
[37:07] And as we grew up and then left school and everything else. And then I got married.
[37:20] My dear wife was over there. And we had a family of two. Son and a daughter. Rachel and her family over in Ireland.
[37:32] And Murdoch Taff. And some of them here with us, Alec and so on. And we've got the grandchildren.
[37:45] And we thank God for them all. And if God spares us, And if it says, Well, we will be married 59 years in July.
[38:02] And I thank God daily for her. And for her goodness to me. Over the years. I think if there was a An honour in the Queen's honour For tolerance.
[38:21] I would put her name forward. There's nothing great. It's nothing. It's wonderful to have a Have a good Mother And a good wife.
[38:33] And a Godly wife. Now, As my testimony goes, I don't have A Damascus Road testimony Like some others have.
[38:48] But I had a gradual desire For the Lord And for the things of the Lord. And to be with God peoples. And attending Sunday morning and evening services.
[39:03] And weekly Prayer meeting. But there was one occasion. I don't know if any of you have an idol. That had an idol. I had a dog.
[39:15] A very, very good dog. He was Excellent. And he was just my idol. And this Kichtak's uncle Was at home.
[39:26] And he was a shepherd in Fort Augustus. And he I decided I wouldn't go to the prayer meeting. Because I would I would like to show My sheepdog working.
[39:38] And that was on Wednesday evening. We had a funk On Friday. And on Friday morning At ten o'clock My keeper and Darth Van Killed my dog On the top of the road.
[39:59] And the word of the Lord Spoke to me clearly. Thou shalt have no other gods Before me. Now put Jesus Beelach At the moon And that was me In an unconverted state.
[40:15] God was speaking. And But so And as time went on And Communions were coming round I always had a desire To go forward.
[40:36] But of course The enemy The enemy always kept me back Telling me I was not ready. And there was So many things In my life I would have To put right first.
[40:50] And I'm sure he was telling That that was a bit of the truth. But he doesn't have the truth. But anyway First But after the morning service I didn't go forward And on the way home Just on the grocery road The word of the Lord Spoke to me clearly Seek ye first The kingdom of God And his righteousness And all of these things Shall be added Into you And fear not Little flock For it is your father's Good pleasure To give you the kingdom.
[41:32] So I went forward That evening To the session And I was met My Our dear Brother and friend Angus Halleck Who took me Into the session And What a welcome I got And what they said to me We've been expecting you For years And John Morrison In Morick Young old He said to me Well You made it at last You shouldn't have been called Neil Cameron You should have been called Neil Karnaschir And that means Neil Stöbern That was If I've got the right Gaelic Have I?
[42:19] So But the only regret That I have Is that I did not Do it earlier And it's not The hold And the grip We have of Christ But the grip That Christ Has enough We let him down So often But he Never Let's us down So you see When When When Jesus When Jesus Died on the cross He died for our sins And He died with his Hands East West And his head North South Taking the whole World in So But he But he He died But he rose
[43:19] Again And he Is sitting At the right hand Of God In heaven Intercession Making intercession For us And now that The work of salvation Was complete We can say As was in Psalm 22 He Has Done it So So it's My prayer And desire That you Will That you Will come To know Because This depends On your Eternity Depends on Decision You made Making To accept Jesus As your Saviour And We We The other Thing Is That I Would like To Say Is That we
[44:20] Be sure That we Pray For our Minister And for Our Congregations We live In We live In Difficult Times And we Thank God As I Mention Already We Thank God For Him And we Should Pray For Our Minister In Our Morning And Evening Worship And We Should Even In Listening In The Church Here We Should Even Film There Was A Lady Years Ago And Her Hearing Was Getting A wee Bitty Dull So The Minister Said Come Down To The Front Near The Pulpit So That You Can Hear Me And Halfway Through The Service He Said Yes He
[45:20] Said I Am Hearing You And I Am Feeling You So We Very We Are Very Fortunate Really That We Have A Very Godly Christian Minister And We Thank God Fire I've Got Something Here That I Would Like To Show You Can Anybody Tell Me What This Is Anybody Anybody What is it John Roddy Pardon
[46:21] It's A Sticker And What's Written On It See What It Was Keketak Was Doing A Bit Of Spring Cleaning The Other Day And She Came Across This Well I'm Still Here Too But She Came Across This And I Thought It Would Be Glema Ideal To Take It With It Do You Know What It Says No Well Gordon Putting On The Glasses Yes That Is Jesus Let Him In That Is The Most Important Thing That We Can That We Can Do Open Our Hearts To Women At It May Decide That
[47:22] Nobody Here If You Don't Know Jesus Christ As Your Personal Saviour That You Would Not Leave Here Without Making Your Calling An Election Shure And When D.L.
[47:43] Moody Was Preaching In Chicago Before Before The He Was Preaching On The What Was It Again That What What Will You Do With The Jesus That Is Called Christ That Was His Text And He Said To Them I Give You A Week To Come Back And Give Me The Answer What That Very Night There Was A Fire In Chicago And 300 People Were Were Burned To Death And When He Came Back The Next Sunday He Said I Give Some Of My Congregation A Week Last Sunday And I Was Wrong And Some Of Them In Eternity
[48:43] Now So This Is Don't Leave It Till Tomorrow Because Tomorrow Might Not Be And There Is A We Story Told About If You Hear God Knocking Open To Him Because It Be Quite Loud At Times But If You Leave It It Will Be Getting We We Get And We Get A Story Told Of A Young Young Man Who Was A Brecht Christian But God Was Calling Him And He Was Putting It Off And Putting It Off And Then He Went Into Business Excuse Me And Into A Milling Business And He The Business Prospered And
[49:43] He Got Another Mill And The Minister Was Calling To See Him And Asking Him How He Was Doing And Was He Still Hearing God Knocking And Calling And This Day He Came Back And He Said Are You Still Hearing God Have You Answered God's Knock Are You Still Hearing Him He A Minister He Said I Don't Hear Him Now Because Of The Noise Of The Machinery And He It's Something That We Should Never Be Distracted By The Things And The Noise Of This World While God Is Calling We Should Come To Him and the Christian life, it's difficult at times but God is with us and he has promised he will never leave us nor forsake us and that is a wonderful promise and there will be difficulties in our lives and storms.
[50:54] When the disciples were in the Sea of Galilee and they were in the storm there and Jesus was sleeping in the stern of the boat it wasn't the storm or the jail that woke him up it was the cry of the disciples and we need to cry to him too, he's waiting for our cries and we've got to look to him when Peter was walking on the water and he took his eyes off Christ he started thinking and we need to have our eyes on Christ as well he is our sustainer but time is going by my own experience with Christ and he has been good to us all the years that I have come to know him and to put my faith in him
[52:08] I had health problems and I had 16 years of angina and I had to go to hospital in Glasgow to the Jubilee and I had a triple bypass and I was there for I was there for I was there for 26 days years ago we knew of a retired missionary there was a St. Stornoway and he gave us a bible and he wrote in that bible this book will speak to you and it will teach you how to speak and he said I'm going to teach you a wee prayer you might need it sometime and the prayer is remember me Lord when I cannot remember you and that was the prayer
[53:26] I had going into surgery that was 45 or 48 years before that and I I was in surgery I was in theatre for about 5 hours but that's history now but I was I was I had problems after that so I was for 26 days in the hospital but during that time even the day I had the operation a case like my wife and my sister Moorick and Suzanne were at the in the house and David and Callum came now I don't know which one came first but the one didn't know the other was coming but the Lord did and they were with them and they were at a wonderful time of prayer there and
[54:28] David used to phone me every second day while I was in the hospital and I was so conscious he was praying over the phone and I was so conscious of the prayers of God's people and I never felt lonely while I was there I was quite happy and but I wasn't sleeping and I had a problem I I was that clock I can still see it there I thought that spoke would never reach the top but anyway eh one of the nights and I sometimes get emotional about this but you'll excuse me but eh I did doze off and I looked at the clock and it was I heard kick that my wife pray and eh praying pardon me and eh
[55:29] I looked at the clock and it was ten to two in the morning and eh I didn't say much of it to anyone but I think it's worth it's worth mentioning you know the power power of prayer and eh when I went into when I went into the hospital there I had it was the the Joshua it was Joshua chapter one verse nine have have I not commanded thee be strong and be of good courage be not afraid neither be thou dismayed for the Lord thy God is with thee wheresoever thou goest and eh the the
[56:31] I always had the other Bible readings as well but I always had Psalm 121 every day the eye to the hills will lift mine eyes from whence does come my name and also two verses the last two verses of Psalm 59 but of thy power I'll sing aloud at morn thy mercy praise for thou to me my refuge wast and tower in troublous days O God thou art my strength I will sing praises unto thee for God for God is our defence a God of mercy unto me and the God that has been a mercy to me he would be a mercy to you as well or to anyone that calls on his name and the the the the
[57:39] I was thinking I think I've told this before but I think it's worth mentioning again I'm sure you've all heard of this man Jamie that used to go up to the church every day at 11 o'clock and he would stand in front of the pulpit and say Jesus this is Jamie and then Jamie had an accident and he was taken to he was taken to hospital and visiting out would come and go but nobody was coming to see see Jamie and one of the nurses said to him this day Jamie you don't have any friends are you not feeling lonely nobody's coming to see you and he said no
[58:40] I am not lonely a man comes and stands at my bed end every morning at 11 o'clock and says Jamie this is Jesus so we pray then that God will bless us and the hymn that we sang there abundant salvation this is one of the hymns that we used to have in our fellowships years ago I remember going into a house in Upper Shadder one night and Jessie Jane was singing this hymn abundance and salvation and it always had an impression on me that's why when David asked me Friday and Wednesday if there was any hymn I would like her so
[59:42] I did phone back and God is good and I'm not going to boast about this but I thank God for his grace and on Thursday before I left the hospital Jack Butler he was the surgeon that performed my operation he came round and he said give me you have been here for a long time he was coming on to four weeks and he said we'll have to try and get you home by Monday but he said you've been one of the most patient patients I've ever operated on and I thank God for that not of me but
[60:43] I praise God for it and hitherto the Lord has helped us and he will and there's so many other things that I could mention but this might be funny but if all sins are forgiven I don't know if you see that in the God general times Angus is bugging and he said well if our sins are forgiven we're fine God has a poor memory at times hasn't he he forgets he forgets our sins they're in the ocean of his forgetfulness so the years ago years ago there was a man down in
[61:52] Lamerway and he was a professing Christian for years but he had back slidden and he went off the narrow road completely and this day they were going to cut seaweed and he turned back and he said to his wife I forgot to tell you that I had the dream I had this morning I dreamt we were going into a foreign land and we were at a queue and everybody had to show his passport and he said when I looked at my passport it looked terrible it was tattered and dougly and when my turn came the man looked at it and he looked at me and he said well your passport is tattered and in poor shape but he said the king's head is on it and your name is on it and a stamp is on it and
[63:03] I can't keep you out I am going to let you in you know what happened three of them were drowned they never came back so so that so I think that with that I will have to close time is going by but I hope that before you if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal saviour whether you're in here or listening on the on the show that you will not go to bed until you make your peace with Christ and that God is still knocking and that you will answer his call and as Billy Graham used to say may the Lord bless you real good thank you great good time thank you Neil for sharing these words of testimony we'll pray for a moment our heavenly father once more we thank you for your goodness, for your grace your grace that saves your grace that keeps us we thank you for the evidence of that in the words that Neil has shared and in the life that he lives, we thank you for the testimony that he has spoken this evening we thank you for the testimony of his warmth, of his smile along with Angus Alec there at the door week by week, we thank you for the encouragement that these men of God bring to us and so many of your people that you place around us bring we thank you for evidences of your grace and the smiles and the words and the kindness of your people and we pray that you would bless
[65:34] Neil as he's shared these words of testimony that he would know your hand upon him for good hitherto the Lord has been good to him and you are the God who is good to to all of your children as we trust you so help us Lord we pray to keep on trusting help us we pray to know as we so often sing in that hymn that it's the happiness of walking with Jesus trust and obey there's no other way to be happy in Jesus we pray that we would know that happiness that joy that comes from a close walk with God so bless Neil we pray and Cateach and the family and continue Lord to minister through them and we pray these things in Jesus name Amen we're going to hear sung now three verses of the the second hymn that Neil has chosen to conclude the service little is much when God is in it and
[66:41] God he and he he he and he done I he he he and I he he and he the the After the the he he The harvest will now ripen, there shall wait for all to do.
[67:21] Part the voice of God is calling to the harvest calling you. Little is much when God is in it, labor not for wealth or fame.
[67:40] There's a crown and you can win it if you go in Jesus' name.
[67:51] Does the place you call to labor seem too small and little known?
[68:02] It is great if God is in it and he'll not forget his own. Little is much when God is in it, labor not for wealth or fame.
[68:23] There's a crown and you can win it if you go in Jesus' name.
[68:34] When the conflict here is ended and the race on earth is run, He will say if we are faithful, welcome home, my child, well done.
[68:57] Little is much when God is in it, labor not for wealth or fame.
[69:08] There's a crown and you can win it if you go in Jesus' name.
[69:20] Let's stand for the benediction. And I may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship, the comfort of God the Holy Spirit be with us all, both now and forevermore. Amen.