[0:00] Good evening everybody and welcome to our service both in the church and those who are watching online. We're pleased to have Mr Scott McLeod leading the service tonight.
[0:11] Scott is applying for the Free Church Ministry and is currently getting experience of leading services and preaching. The pray meeting on Wednesday night at 7.30pm online via Zoom as usual.
[0:27] I encourage everyone to log into that and that will be led by Angus McKellar. The service is next Sunday morning at 11am and 6pm will be led in the morning by Roddy McKenzie from Scalpy and in the evening in Gaelic by Angus M. McLeod.
[0:48] If there are any pastoral needs during our minister's breakaway, please in the first instance speak to one of the elders. And we'll be able to put you in touch with one of the neighbouring ministers if that is required.
[1:05] These are all the intimations so it's my pleasure to ask Scott to come forward and lead this evening's worship. Thank you for your introduction and your warm welcome.
[1:24] Thank you for having me down with you and allowing me to practice on you. We pray that as we gather together and we worship in the Lord's name we'll be blessed together.
[1:35] May we begin our worship by singing in Psalm 40. Psalm 40 is a Scottish psalter. We'll sing the first four stanzas.
[1:48] Our God to magnify.
[2:13] Many shall see it and shall fear and on the Lord rely. O blessed is the man whose trust upon the Lord relies, respecting not the proud nor such as turn aside to lies.
[2:30] We'll sing these verses together to God's praise. I waited for the Lord my God. I waited for the Lord my God.
[2:50] I waited for the Lord my God.
[3:20] From a fearful pit. And from the mighty clay.
[3:33] And on a rock He set my feet.
[3:44] Establishing my way. He puts a new song in my mouth.
[4:03] A God to magnify. Many shall see it and shall fear.
[4:20] And on the Lord rely. O blessed is the man whose trust upon the Lord relies, respecting not the proud nor such.
[4:57] A star not sight to lies. May we join our hearts together in a word of prayer.
[5:13] Let us bow our heads and pray. Our Heavenly Father. Lord, we thank you that we are gathered again in your name.
[5:24] And that we can sing praises to you. The one who has set us free. The one in whom we rely upon.
[5:36] The one in whom we put all our trust in. And Lord, we thank you. For what you have done for us.
[5:47] We come before you. And maybe we feel ourselves unworthy. Maybe we feel ourselves that we have let you down. And that the sins within our hearts may consume us.
[6:00] And we feel at times that we overcome us. But yet, we must come to your word. And the freedom we find.
[6:10] And the freedom we find. And the promises of Christ. In the works of Christ. He is the one who has set us free.
[6:21] He is the one who takes these sins. And parts them from us. He is the one who makes us white as snow. And gives us garments of righteousness.
[6:33] To whom else can we turn to? To whom else can we go? We thank you for your word. We thank you for all that it contains.
[6:44] May it be a guide for our lives. May we hold it up within our hands. And value what we hold. As great treasure.
[6:55] Treasure that surpasses the treasures of the world. That we would lay hold of it. And that we would grapple with it.
[7:09] And find the treasures that are hidden within the words. That Christ would become clearer to us. And we pray for each one within this community.
[7:22] That they would see the beauty of Christ. That they would see the salvation that is to be found in Christ. If they would only come to him.
[7:33] That they would give up relying on the ways of the world. That they would give up the desires of the world. So tempting as they are to each other.
[7:46] Forgive us when we fall. But we put our trust in the one who did not fall. The devil came once to Eve and Adam.
[7:58] And they fell. Three times to Jesus. And he resisted. All temptation. He could not be tempted. He had a work to do for his father.
[8:13] He was the great high priest. That was sent. To atone for the people that had been given to him. Lord, we pray.
[8:26] Open eyes and open hearts of the many. Within this community. That they may seek things that are beyond this world.
[8:38] Treasures that cannot be laid or bought. They would hold to the works of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[8:54] And Lord, we pray for every gospel effort made within this church. We pray for them. We pray for this congregation.
[9:05] That you would strengthen them. That they would give them a loving spirit. That we would have a love for one another. As brothers and sisters in Christ.
[9:19] That we know that we will be welcomed amongst each other. For we have the same love and the same desire. That we all hold fast to the one in whom we have found salvation in.
[9:38] The one in whom has kept us and will keep us. As we journey through life. Whatever life holds for us.
[9:51] We all have our different experiences. None of us really, we rarely experience the same thing. But Lord, we pray.
[10:02] Through all these things. Through our difficulties. Through the challenges. Through the heartache of life. Through the heartache of life. Through the heartache of life. Through the heartache of life.
[10:13] For us. Through the heartache of life. Through our community. Through our comfort. Through our comfort. Our guide. And our shepherd. For the way. can't make a step.
[10:25] That you would be the one to take our hand as our loving Father that knows what we require. When we don't understand what we require, when we don't understand what we need, you are there. But if we would only turn to you and ask you to have mercy on us and to remember us you do remember you know us sitting down and are rising up you have counted all the hairs on our heads. You know us deeper than we know ourselves and how we cannot even comprehend your knowledge and our knowledge seems so dim in comparison.
[11:19] We will never fully understand all the glorious nature of your glory and holiness. How holy holy holy you are three times holy.
[11:35] Lord help us do and measure taste that when we open up your scripture that your attributes would be revealed to us and that we would see the character of God the loving kindness of God the forgiveness of God the mercy of God and all these things that are found in Christ Jesus the one who died on the cross for us the one who was willing to be that sacrificial lamb the lamb that was slain the blood that was spilled the blood that was required as payment for sin it has all been done in Christ Jesus everything was accomplished and so it is not our works or our doings that grant us heavenly privileges but that the works of Christ
[12:46] Jesus may we lay hold of them may we do our best to strive to understand that our hearts would cling to you our love would burn for you like the two that walked the road to me but our hearts did not our hearts burn within us when we walked on the way and may that be true of the Christian in their lives whatever their experiences even if it be in sadness that they would know the presence of Christ maybe even after he has left but that they would not that he would leave us but that the special revelation at times to us is treasured in a way that we remember and that we learn how good you are to us and that we look back on these times and say did our hearts not burn within and so we have the confidence to continue because he will be there with us lord we pray for those who are born those who are grieved in their hearts for the loss of loved ones remember the family in
[14:08] Kyle's gap that you would be with them and be their comforter that they would know the god of all comfort to be that good physician to give them what they require lord we pray that you would be with every word that we speak in our time together keep us from distraction quieten our hearts as we turn them towards your word as we turn towards your praise as we turn towards our saviour may you be revealed to us through your word may your spirit be over us blessing your word making it alive to our hearts convicting us of sin and converting men that lie in sin encouraging the believer on the way lord we thank you you are the one that does not leave us nor forsake us and so may you continue with us in the remainder of our worship may we know that it was good to gather and that we would find food for our souls at this time and all these things we ask in the name of our saviour the lord jesus christ amen if we could continue in our worship by singing a hymn we'll sing i heard the voice of jesus say i heard the voice of jesus say come unto me and rest lay down thy weary one lay down thy head upon my breast so i'm not to up to speed with hymns but if there's an introduction i'm sure you know when you stand so i'll leave it to you i heard the voice of jesus say come unto me and rest lay down thy weary only down thy head upon my breast i came to jesus as i was weary and worn and sad i found in him a resting place and he has made me glad i heard the voice of jesus say behold i freely will why would oh
[17:37] Of that life-giving stream My thirst was quenched My soul revived And now I live in Him I heard the voice of Jesus say I am this dark world's light Look unto me, thy Lord shall rise And all thy day be bright I look to Jesus and I found In Him my star, my star And in the light of life I'll walk Till troubling days are gone
[18:39] Thank you. If we could turn together and read from the Gospel of Luke.
[18:52] Gospel of Luke chapter 17. We're just going to read a short passage tonight. Beginning at verse 11. It's on the screen. The version I have is the ESV, but hopefully it's not too far away from what you have there.
[19:12] So the Gospel of Luke chapter 17 and we read from verse 11 down to verse 19. Let us hear God's word. On the way to Jerusalem, he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.
[19:30] And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
[19:42] When he saw them, he said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.
[20:02] And he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, Were not ten cleansed?
[20:17] Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? And he said to him, Rise and go your way.
[20:31] Your faith has made you well. There's a wee note at the bottom, a footnote that says, With regards to the last words of making him well, All has saved you.
[20:48] Your faith has saved you. May the reading of God's word be blessed to us. And we'll continue in our third item of praise, which will be the hymn, How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds.
[21:01] How sweet the name of Jesus Sounds in our believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear.
[21:13] May we sing God's praises to you. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in our believer's ear.
[21:42] It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and lives away his fear.
[21:55] It makes the wounded spirit war, And comes the troubled breathes.
[22:08] Tis manna to the hungry soul, And to the weary present.
[22:20] Dear name, Dear name, The rock on which I built My shield and fighting grace, My never-failing treasure filled With boundless swords always.
[22:45] Jesus, my shepherd, Brother, Brother, Friend, My prophet, Christ, And came.
[22:59] My Lord, My life, My way, My end, Accept the Praise I Pay.
[23:12] Weak is the effort of my heart, And hold my order's thought.
[23:25] But when I see Thee as the Lord, I praise Thee as I own.
[23:38] Till then I would Thy love proclaim, With every fleeting breath, And may the music of Thy name Refresh my soul in death.
[24:04] Well, if we could turn back together to the passage we read together, In the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 17.
[24:20] And we'll take us to our verse tonight, Verse 15. And then one of them, When he saw that he was healed, Turned back, Praising God, With a loud voice.
[24:40] Now I'm sure we've all been thankful at some time or other in our lives. Now what was the last thing you thanked someone for?
[24:52] When did you last say thank you? It might have just been coming in here this evening. Maybe someone gave you a birthday present. And of course you would say to them, Well, thank you for your present.
[25:08] Maybe someone gave you something to eat. Maybe they gave you dinner. Maybe they gave you a cake. And of course you would say to them, Thank you. Maybe someone helped you.
[25:20] Maybe someone gave you a hand lifting a box. Or maybe someone threw back a football that you had kicked over into their garden And thrown it back over the fence.
[25:35] But it's good to thank people. Whatever it's for. It's good to show our appreciation To people when they do good things for us.
[25:46] It's important that we thank one another as well. Especially when they help us. Especially when they help us to do something that we couldn't do ourselves.
[26:01] Because sometimes, as we know in our lives, That when we don't thank people, It can hurt them. And some people may become sad. Or angry. Because we have forgotten to thank them.
[26:14] Because of something they have done for us. But there's a vast difference between Thanking someone for giving you a cake.
[26:26] And between Thanking someone for when they help you. And really help you. You know, imagine if you were stuck in a hole.
[26:37] And you couldn't get out. Like Joseph when he was thrown into the dried well. You know, he couldn't get out. Imagine you were stuck.
[26:48] Someone needs to help you. We have to admit That someone needs to help us. And that's when thank you Becomes so deep to us.
[27:01] It's a deep appreciation Of what they have done. It is a most sincere thank you. It is a heartfelt thanks.
[27:13] And often Because of what they have done for us. We want to give something back To them. You know, we probably can think of People in their own lives That have done something for us.
[27:28] And we can say I don't know what I would have done Without that person being there. And that person Remains special to you.
[27:39] For the care Or consideration That they have shown To yourselves Or myself. And we must You know We are mindful that In the different things That we do We don't know How We can Help one another.
[28:01] You know, someone might be Struggling with something And we don't know how Even doing that Little task for them May help Until they say A thank you To us.
[28:16] But surely If we already thank anyone It must be God Especially if we are Christians Not only Because he has been so gracious To us In all that we have And we acknowledge And count The blessings that he gives us That he has revealed to us In scripture He has revealed to us Scripture to begin with But he has revealed to us In scripture Salvation That he has done For us And all these things Are done for us He has given us All these things And he gives us Every breath that we have And do we acknowledge All his goodness To us Do we find our heart To be in tune With the psalmist Of Psalm 40 Where he says Your wondrous deeds And thoughts Towards us They're more than
[29:19] Can be told You know If we could count Every blessing That God gave to us And knew of all His gracious acts Towards us And counted them One by one I don't think We could be able To count them Because he has done So much for us And we are left In wonder And that's Something of what Happens in our account Of the cleansing Of the ten lepers Jesus Does the same miracle To the ten At the same time But sadly This great grace Is only Seems to have Been realised By the one The one man Who came back To praise And thank Christ So in our Consideration Of the passage We'll take Three points Beginning with The ten men And then we'll Look at the nine And we'll call Them the nine heads And lastly
[30:19] We'll look at the one And we'll call him The one heart So the ten men The nine heads And the one heart So firstly Taking the ten Taking the whole Group Of lepers As we meet Within our passage What do they Have in common Well We know That they are Men who have Lived out With the Village Or the town Because of The ailment That they have They would have Already Been diagnosed By the priest As being unclean Now you're Having to live In isolation Many of us Know what that's Like Not to the extent Of what these Men experienced And four Having been Declared Unclean By the priest Having been Having this Ailment Of leprosy In their skin They would have Been Considered
[31:19] By the Jewish people As having Have considered A particular Sin Before God And now In his Just punishment Has given Has treated Them With leprosy And though They were Considered Last by men They are the First to meet Christ Because of Their condition Often That is the Case in our Lives And they All come As one Group With one Request Before this Man Jesus Here He is Revealed That these Men Must have Had some Prior Knowledge Of Jesus Jesus' Name was Not completely Alien to Them Even though They were In isolation Nor were His works Nor was His ability To Rid them Of their Leprosy And it's A passing Thought for
[32:20] Us Tonight And maybe Even a Challenge That of These men Who had Been Isolated The time Of which We do Not know But it Was probably A significant Period They were Not involved In the Hustle And bustle Of the Village Life But they Knew About Jesus They Knew Of his Works They Knew Of his Power And yet Today Maybe to Our shame But there Are many Within Our own Villages Who we Come to In contact With Who are Involved In our Lives And yet Do not Have a Clear Understanding Of who Jesus Really Is Even Not Understanding Jesus As much As these Men Did These Men Had a Flawed Understanding Of Jesus But still It was Enough For them To Shout Out After Him
[33:20] When Times Got Descred There Was No Immediate Impact Made Upon Their Lives And we Don't Know Was There A Lasting Impact Made Upon Their Lives We Don't Hear Of Them Again We Don't Hear Of Them Coming Back But we Do Not Know If They Did So Them Being Considered Lepers According To The Law In Leviticus It Means Certain Things For Them There's Two Chapters In Leviticus 13 And 14 That Goes Into Explaining The Rules Of Leprosy One Chapter For Identifying And Managing It And Then The Second Chapter Is For Dealing With The Cleansing Of Leprosy So What Did It Mean For These Ten Men Well According To Chapter 13 And Verse 45 Onwards It Says They Would Be Examined If They
[34:20] Had Any Skin Defects And They Would Be Sent Away And Re-examined If It Wasn't Clear And Then They Would Be Pronounced Unclean And They Were To Live Alone And Be Separate From The Main Body Of People They Were To Wear Torn Clothes They Were To Let Their Hair Hang Loose They Were To Cover Their Upper Lip And We Think That Is A Moustache Predominantly Male I Think That Would Apply To And Maybe Worst Of All What These Men Had To Do Was That They Had To Walk About Saying Unclean Unclean They Had To Keep Uttering That Word These Words As They Went About Their Duties There Was No Escape From The Fact Of Their Illment They Weren't Able To Hide It They Had In fact They Had
[35:20] To Declare It And That Goes Completely Against Their Nature We We're We're We're Not Naturally Inclined To Share Our Defects With People Or Our Sins With People Or Things That Are Wrong In Our Lives But These Men Had To Declare That They Were Unclean
[37:43] Lives Things Have To Get Desperate We Have To Realize That We Can't Do Anything Of Ourselves Before We Make That Cry Jesus Have Mercy On Us But The Little Knowledge Of Jesus At That Moment Of Desperation Makes All The Difference To Encourage You To Speak A Word About Jesus As We Go About Our Lives As Hard As It Is To Do And I Admit I Am Not The Best At Doing But The Little Knowledge That They Had Makes All The Difference And How Many People Have We Seen Depart From Us And We Cannot But Wonder Did They Make That Cry The Influence Of Sharing The Gospel And The Truth Of Christ Of Others Can Be Largely Unknown To Us We
[38:44] Don't Know When A Word May Fall In Season With A Soul And Like The Men Here The Nine Though There Is No Immediate Impact To Be Seen The Lasting Impact Is Never Known Of What These Nine Men Did They Ever Come Back Did They Ever Come Back And Thank The Christ That Healed Them The Ten Stand In A Sense As Ourselves As We Are Born Into This World Naturally Sinful We Are We Are Born We We With The Same Plight Of Sin That Robs Us Of Any Hope Beyond The Life That We Have And Yes We Are Separated From The Presence Of God We Are Distanced Maybe We Are Trapped In A Fearful Pit That
[39:45] Requires Help But Merciful And Graciously We Are Not Out Of Reach Of Him Hearing Us When We Make That Call Jesus Will Hear Our Prayerful Heart When We Call Out To Him When We Prayerfully Shout With All Sincer To Him Jesus Master Will You Have Mercy On Me The Hope For The Men Was Only In Christ There Was No Other Hope For Them And Still This Truth Stands Today For You And For Me That He Is Our Only Hope Christ Is Our Only Way For The Man Who Wishes To Be Saved From The Fearful Pits That Sin Can Drag Us
[40:45] Into So The Ten There's One Call And The Ten Have A Single Reply From Jesus And His Response Doesn't Seem At All Miraculous You Know It Says When He Saw Them He Said To Them Go And Show Yourselves To The Priest That's It They're Probably Expecting Something To Happen But He Says Go And See Someone Else I Wondered How They Felt Nothing Special Has Happened Nothing Amazing Has Happened There's Been No Big Miracle Like They've Heard So Much About This Jesus Who Can Do All These Miracles But Maybe They Thought Well Yes The Priest Has To Declare Me Clean And You Know They All Went And In A Way I Can't Believe They All Went But They Did And I Suppose That Tells
[41:45] Us How Desperate Their Men Were You Would Have Expected Maybe A Doubter Amongst Them But They All Went They Were All Likewise In A Hopeless Situation There Was No Other Options And They Had To Say To Themselves I Must Go I Have To Go Where Else Can I Go They All Experienced Grace They Had The Same Condition Jesus Spoke To Them The Same Words But There Was A Different Effect Between The Nine And The One And We Ask Our What Is Our Condition Today We All Ask Our S Are We In Need Of A Savior Are
[42:46] We In Need Of Healing do we say in our hearts that I must listen to the word that God will speak to me.
[42:58] I have nowhere else to go. Whatever Jesus will say to me, I must obey it and I must listen to his words.
[43:10] So let us look at the nine heads. And I'm calling them the nine heads because they reasoned things out. They obeyed the voice of Jesus.
[43:23] They heard the voice from a distance. Sadly, they never got any closer. Nine heads who thought it wise to follow the words of the good master.
[43:35] Nine minds who reasoned their chances. It made sense for them to go to the priests in order that they would be made clean.
[43:50] They're led, in a sense, by their law and not by the love of their hearts. And it's not an understanding that counts.
[44:01] Jesus does not say to us, believe in me because you can make sense of everything. He doesn't say to us, well done, good and understanding servant.
[44:13] Nor does he say, whatever you ask for in prayer, you will receive if it seems reasonable to you. He doesn't say any of that. We must have faith in these things, in Christ.
[44:28] And an understanding of Christ will always be limited while we are here on this world. There's an element of Christ's glory that is hidden from us.
[44:44] These men are left with a hope in the words of Christ. But I don't believe any of them expected to happen what did happen. As they went, they were healed.
[44:55] And I wondered what became of the nine. And when we read the passage, I may be guilty of just assuming that they went off in their own way.
[45:10] They were healed. And they went back to their lives that they had known. We're not entirely sure. It doesn't tell us. But looking at it deeper, I believe they did exactly what Jesus told them to do.
[45:27] Go straight to the priest. Maybe they went shouting, I'm clean. I'm clean. Running to the priest, look at me.
[45:40] I'm clean. Pronounce me clean. So that I can return to my life. I can get back to the things that I was doing. But you know what it says in Leviticus.
[45:51] He had to bring a sacrifice for them. So matter of fact, these nine would have been busy gathering what they needed to take as a sacrifice.
[46:03] They knew they were clean. They had been caught up in what they had to do. And what they had to bring. To satisfy the rituals of the priests.
[46:15] So they could return to their lives. You know, they had to bring birds. They had to bring cedar, wood, scarlet, yarn, and hyssop. This was needed for the sacrifice before they were pronounced cleaned.
[46:29] They're doing what seems right and seems to be of their best understanding. And after they had done this, it wasn't until the seventh day that they were actually clean.
[46:43] Or pronounced clean. And still there was a further eighth day that they had to make a sacrifice. So there's this big ritual surrounding. A guilt and burnt offering that they needed to offer.
[46:54] Three male lambs and a grain offering on the eighth day. And I wonder were they planning then to go back to see Jesus. If they were allowed then to cut their hair.
[47:06] Clean their clothes. Have a wash. We don't know for sure. But one thing we do know is that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem at this point.
[47:20] This is the last few days of Jesus' life. As he walks towards and approaches Jerusalem. And by the eighth day. Christ may have already been crucified.
[47:37] Maybe some of the nine men. Came to realize afterwards. The sacrifice. Not of the bird. Not of the lambs that they brought.
[47:50] But the Christ. Who healed them. And died on the cross. For them. As the lamb. That poured out the blood. The blood on the water of the bird.
[48:02] Had to be. Sprinkled on them. The blood on the water of Christ. Was poured out for them. I wonder. Did any of them come back.
[48:15] And praise God. For all that he had done. For them. For the cleansing. For the cleansing. Not only of the body. But of their soul.
[48:26] As they trusted in him. You know. We ourselves can be too busy. To contemplate. And consider the grace. That is shown to us.
[48:38] We can be too busy. To stop. And consider. What has been done for me. Rather. We are guilty of considering.
[48:48] What we can do for ourselves. What we can do. And how we can work things out. You know. The group would have kept each other going.
[48:58] You know. We are clean. We are clean. We will gather these things. That we need. Caught up in all these requirements. Of the law. And the sacrifices. Distracted by a hope.
[49:08] Of a better life. That they can now live. And all the while. Failing to grasp. The true understanding. And the outworking. Of Jesus Christ's word.
[49:20] In their lives. You know. There are hundreds. Of men. And women. In this world. That are running. Towards priests. Thinking the priests.
[49:33] Can wash away. Their sins. And make them clean. Satisfying their reasonings. And. Satisfying their conscience.
[49:43] I suppose. No man. Can do such a thing. For you. Except. To Christ. And it seems. Maybe that. It's comparable.
[49:54] To the. The mighty. Clay. Of Sam 40. You know. These things. That people. Get caught up in. And it weighs them down. And it sticks them. And they find it hard.
[50:05] To walk. And they need Christ. To free them from. They need to come. To the true priest. Who will relieve them.
[50:16] The priest. The priest who can wash away. Their sins. And the priest who can set them free. Are we. Like this. It's not beyond the Christian.
[50:30] To be too busy. In good works. We can be so tied up in the world. There's so many distractions. For us. That we don't. Stop.
[50:41] And give thanks. We don't pray. Like we ought. Because we don't. Make the time. To come and praise. And thank. The Lord.
[50:52] For what he has done. For us. You know. We're busy. Understanding. How we should do things. How we should work things out. In our own lives. And maybe even.
[51:03] In our churches. That we don't. Bring our hearts. Back. Before God. And seek him. We're busy. We're busy doing other things.
[51:14] But really. What we need to do. Is come back. To the feet. Of Jesus. Like Mary. And listen to what he's saying. To us. And that then.
[51:27] The Lord. Would bless us. Our love. Is so easily misplaced. By the distractions. Set before us. Maybe we've heard.
[51:39] Jesus speak to us. Before. Maybe we have kept. Walking away. Jesus asks.
[51:49] Where have they gone? Where are the rest of them? Are you one of the nine? Why have you not?
[52:02] Come back. Where are you? Is what Jesus is asking. Will you come? Will you come as you are? Stop.
[52:13] Trying to make yourself. Clean up. Turn as you are. Turn today. And maybe you feel. Completely. Unprepared.
[52:26] To turn towards. Christ. Maybe you are. Maybe you are. Feeling like. Inside. You are. A bit of a mess. As these men.
[52:37] Were on the outside. You know. Their clothes. Were torn. Their hair. Was long. And they didn't have. Any approval.
[52:47] Of the men. Around them. But regardless. We would turn back. Like the one. Who turned. And as the one.
[53:00] That was taken. From the fearful pit. And taken. From the mighty clay. And find salvation. In Christ. You know. Maybe. He uttered. In his heart.
[53:10] The words. That we sung. Weak. Is the effort. Of my heart. And cold. My warmest. Thought. But when I see. Thee.
[53:21] As thou art. I'll praise thee. As I ought. Was that. The words. Of the one. Heart. Let us look at this man.
[53:32] Briefly. As we conclude. The one heart. He. Sees. Christ. As thou art.
[53:45] And I'll praise thee. As I ought. It wasn't. It wasn't about him. He saw the beauty. Of Christ. He seen the miraculous. Effect. Of Jesus.
[53:55] As word. Upon his fellow. Companions. And then. Upon himself. And sometimes. That's. True of ourselves. We see Christ.
[54:06] Working in others. And others. See Christ. Working in ourselves. Before we do. This man's mind. This man's mind.
[54:18] Went beyond his own ambitions. And his own appearances. His conscience. Drove him back. And his love. Drove him back. For that man.
[54:29] Jesus. There was a real power. And a real authority. Revealed. To him. And it didn't seem like it. In the words that he spoke.
[54:41] But they came with power. These so few. And unassuming words. But they came with a weight. And his outworking.
[54:52] Of his words. Are true. To each of us. And still. They are true. To us today. And we can be guilty.
[55:04] Of reading. The words of scripture. And not really. Grasping. What has been said to us. And then other times. We come back to it. And we see.
[55:14] How did I miss that? See the beauty in that. See the promise in that. Part of scripture. And we understand.
[55:24] Great. But this man. He's understood. That the words of God. Have a power. And the authority.
[55:36] Of the priest. The worldly priest. Dwindles. See once. He. Is the one. That truly fulfills. Christ's words. He comes back. To the true priest.
[55:48] He comes back. To the one. Who is to make atonement. Before God. True atonement. He comes back. Praising God. With a loud voice.
[55:59] Jesus has cleansed me. What more. Can the worldly priest. Do for me. He returns. And falls at his feet. Giving thanks. He had a heart.
[56:10] Of thanks. His heart. Was sincere. His heart. He had that. He had that. Heart filled. Thanks.
[56:22] That we mentioned earlier. When he couldn't do anything. Himself. But he. Was helped. By Jesus. And he couldn't.
[56:32] Forget it. And he came back. Praising God. Because he wanted to. Give something. Back. And you can almost. Picture this man.
[56:44] You know. Watching others. As they ran around. Collecting all those. Sacrifices. That they needed. And he said. I think. What are these. To do. We need.
[56:57] To return. Ourselves. To Christ. Christ. Christ. Is the one. Who can clean. He saw.
[57:08] Christ. Beyond the law. That was said. Before. Beyond the rituals. And sacrifices. You know. Whether he understood. It or not. I don't believe.
[57:19] He would have understood. Everything. But he went. Saying. This is my Lord. My life. My way. My end. The truth.
[57:29] Of his heart. Is seen. In his actions. His heart. And love. For Christ. Overcomes. The world. That's what happens.
[57:42] The word of God. Redirects us. In our lives. That's why. We must keep. Listening to it. And coming back. To it. Maybe.
[57:53] Even. When everyone else. Is going the other way. That we'd listen. To the voice. Of Jesus. Speaking to us. At what he is saying. To each other. That we would trust.
[58:06] In the Lord. With all our hearts. And lean not. On our own understanding. And he just came back. And gave thanks. You know.
[58:17] That man saved me. He had. To go back. Like the person. That had done something. For us.
[58:28] When we couldn't do anything. Ourself. That's what the Christian. Has in their hearts. Goes beyond that. We've been saved.
[58:39] From death. We've been saved. In eternal glory. With Christ Jesus. Jesus. Has saved. Me. And we thank him for.
[58:50] We may not. Grasp everything. We take ourselves. To Christ. In faith. Acting in faith. Longing to be near.
[59:01] Jesus. Praising him. And thanking him. For all that he has done. In our lives. And we will not. Go far wrong. If we keep. Our hearts.
[59:13] Close to Jesus. And beside Jesus. And we come to Jesus. And fall at his feet. Listening to his words. And taking them as truth.
[59:25] We won't go wrong. And the Lord will bless us. As he did the one. For our faithfulness to him. Faith.
[59:36] Was his cure. It says. That it. Has saved you. Is what it says.
[59:46] At the end of the passage. Has made you well. And the faith. The Christian has. In Christ. Has saved them. And he was the only one.
[59:58] To hear these words. That your faith. Has made. You well. And his turning. Was personal.
[60:11] As is their own. Their conversions. To Christianity. To Christ. As personal. But it's a separation.
[60:23] It's a notable. Event. To the others. That are with us. And maybe the others. Are shouting after us. Where are you going? Maybe they were shouting. After him.
[60:33] Where are you going? The Christian. Has to break the ties. With the world. There's a separation. Because he ties himself.
[60:44] To Christ. There's a separation. Either way. One went. One's followed. The worldly ways.
[60:55] And the others. Followed Christ. But only the one. That followed Christ. Was truly healed. And welcomed. As a foreigner.
[61:07] And so he does. For us. And that we can say. Before others. Clean. Clean. By the blood.
[61:17] Of Christ. And though I am. A foreigner. Of another land. He will. Welcome. As his own. I have.
[61:29] Dwelt. In this land. That is full of sin. But I will dwell. In his country.
[61:41] He will take me. To his country. He will take me there. To his kingdom. My soul. Is secure. In Christ.
[61:52] Jesus. And there will never. Be a separation. Made there. We will be with him. Forever.
[62:06] He is the priest. That will make atonement. For. Our sins. That we would come. To that priest.
[62:17] The Lord Jesus Christ. Confessing. Our sins. Before him. And that we would be. With Christ.
[62:29] And consider. Before God. Without sin. And so enter. Into the glory. The glory. Of the separation. From this world. Separation.
[62:41] That we do not. Understand. That is far. Beyond the beauty. That we can. Comprehend. But we are mindful. That there is a separation.
[62:53] Either way. As was hammered home. In the Levitical law. He must. Be separate. If the unclean one.
[63:05] Must be separate. It would have been so hard. For them. To separate. From their loved. One. And Christ. As a love.
[63:15] For each other. That we would not. Be separated. That we would. Be with him. In glory. It's a hard truth.
[63:29] At times. For us to understand. And it is laid out. Clearly. For us in scripture. That there will be. A separation made. That those.
[63:40] Who trust in Christ. Shall be in glory. With him. And it says. In Romans 10. If you confess. With your mouth. That Jesus is Lord.
[63:51] And believe. In your heart. That God. Raised him. From the dead. You will. Be saved. For with the heart. One believes. And is justified. And with the mouth.
[64:02] One confesses. And is saved. May these thoughts. Be blessed to us. And may we be like. The one. Heart. May we have that.
[64:13] Heart for Christ. That comes. And falls. Before his feet. Amen. We'll. Have a. Final singing.
[64:24] And then I'll conclude. With prayer. After our final singing. Our singing. We'll be in Psalm 40. Scottish Psalter. Again. We'll conclude. We'll carry on.
[64:35] From where we left off. Scottish Psalter. Psalm 40. Verses 5 to 8. We'll sing these verses. O Lord. My God.
[64:45] Full many are. The wonders. Thou hast done. Thy gracious thoughts. To us. Were far. Above all. Thoughts. Are gone. In order.
[64:55] As none. Can wreck on them. If thee. To thee. If them. Declare. And speak. Of them. I would. They more. Than can be numbered. At. No sacrifice. Nor offering.
[65:06] Didst thou. At all desire. Mine ears. Thou. Bored. Sin offering. Thou. And burns. Did not require. Then to the Lord. These were my words. I come.
[65:17] Behold. And see. Within the volume. Of this book. It written. Out of me. To do. Thy will. I take delight. O thou. My God. That art.
[65:28] Yea. That most. Holy law. Of thine. I have. Within my heart. We'll sing these verses. Please. Of God. O Lord.
[65:43] My God. Full many of. The wonders. Thou hast done.
[65:57] Thy gracious thoughts. For God. Above.
[66:11] Thy daradows. The prometed. God.ked.
[66:24] To thee if them declare And speak of them I urge them all Than can be numbered up No sacrifice nor offering Didst thou at all desire Thine ears thou board Sin offering them And birth didst not require Then to the Lord
[67:30] He swed my words I come, behold and see Within the volume of the book It written is of me To do thy will I take delight O thou my God that art In that most holy love I have I have Within my heart
[68:33] Conclude with prayer Our Father in heaven We thank you for this time We come before you And thank you for this opportunity We pray that your word Would go with effect In our lives Effect in our hearts Take root and grow And blossom like a flower The most beautiful Flower that can Can blossom And blossom Lord we pray That you would lead us Be our shepherd Be the one to cleanse our hearts And we come before you Admitting that we need to be cleansed And only by the blood of Christ Can we be cleansed We come and fall before the feet Of the one who was crucified For us And who asks Where are you Where is the rest I am waiting for you He says
[69:34] Will you not come Lord we thank you That you would be the one To welcome us To your home And welcome us to glory And only by the works Of Christ May we understand These things And may we have A heart of love Set before For these things In our lives That the things Of the world Would not matter And that we Would leave them And be separated From them And cling To the one Who is faithful To us Lord bless our thoughts And time together Bless this congregation And the ministry That is In this congregation To give us our sins We pray And all these things We ask In your name For your sake And glory Amen Thank you for Coming this evening Thank you for having me
[70:34] I pray that we would be Blessed To each of us And maybe I'll return One day Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you