[0:00] Good morning everyone and a welcome to our service this morning, both to everybody here and those who are online. You'll see today we have a few extra people able to squeeze in due to the reduction in social distancing.
[0:14] So we're gradually moving forward. A special welcome too to some visitors who are with us again today, who are well known to us here.
[0:25] And it's a real pleasure to see everyone here today. So the monthly Gaelic service is this evening at 6pm and invitations have gone out to everyone who wishes to attend that.
[0:38] If you happen not to have got an invitation and wish to attend, there would be some seats available if you want to come along tonight. And you can speak to me at the end of the service if that's your case.
[0:49] But otherwise it's also online for anybody who wishes to listen in. The prayer meeting on Wednesday is via Zoom as usual and Stuart King will be leading that prayer meeting.
[1:02] And the service is next Sunday at 11am. It will be taken by Gordon MacLeod and then at 6pm by myself. And the holiday club is going to run from Wednesday the 4th to Friday the 6th of August.
[1:16] And so the volunteers are required for that. Mary is looking for a few more, so if you are able to volunteer for any of those days, or indeed all of them, please have a word with Lucy Tour or Joyce King and all your help would be much appreciated.
[1:33] So it's my pleasure today to welcome Roddy McKenzie to preach to us once again. He's no stranger here. And we look forward to hearing what Roddy has to say to us.
[1:44] So we pray for God's blessing upon Roddy's ministry this morning. Well, thank you very much indeed, Duncan, for your kind words of welcome.
[2:01] And it's lovely to be back here again. And it's lovely to see so many able to come out to God's house. And our prayer is that as we worship God together today, we would hear his voice, we would seek his face, and above all, that we would know God's blessing.
[2:18] Now we're going to begin today by singing to God's praise in Psalm number 40. Psalm number 40. And we're going to sing from the beginning of that psalm, a metrical psalm.
[2:29] I waited for the Lord my God, and patiently did bear. At length to me he did incline my voice and cry to hear. He took me from a fearful pit and from the miry clay, and on a rock he set my feet, establishing my way.
[2:45] He put a new song in my mouth, our God to magnify. 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.
[3:01] These first four verses of Psalm 40 to God's praise. I waited for the Lord my God. I waited for the Lord my God, and patiently did bear.
[3:28] At length to me he did incline my voice and cry to hear.
[3:46] He took me from a fearful pit, and from the fear of my God.
[3:58] He took me from the miry clay, and on a rock he set my feet, establishing my way.
[4:21] He put a new song in my mouth, a God to magnify.
[4:39] Many shall see it and shall fear.
[4:50] And on the Lord rely. O blessed is the man whose trust upon the Lord relies.
[5:16] Respecting not the proud nor such as turn aside to lies.
[5:38] Let's engage in prayer, let us pray. O Lord our God, as we bow in thy presence at this morning hour, we thank thee that we can say, we waited for the Lord our God.
[5:51] And we thank thee that we can also say, he heard our voice as we cry to thee. And as we come into thy presence at the beginning of this service, in the attitude of prayer, help us to come with a prayer which is aright.
[6:05] Keep from us, we pray thee, the prayer of another who said, I thank God I am not like other men. But may we simply come humbly and reverently, just saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner.
[6:17] We thank thee for the truth contained in that phrase, that thou art indeed a merciful God, merciful to those undeserving of the least of thy mercy. And we thank thee today, for the wondrous plan of salvation.
[6:32] We thank thee that today, as we think of the first day of the week, when the women went to the sepulchre, they were told that glorious news. He is not here, he is risen.
[6:43] That we worship a risen living Saviour. One who lived a life of perfect obedience. One who went to that death on Calvary's cross. One who rose triumphant over death in the grave.
[6:53] And that through his death, countless millions have eternal life. We thank thee, O Lord, that we may come in to thy presence today. And although we may say, we are not what we should be or what we would like to be.
[7:07] We can also say, we are not what we once were. And it is by the grace of God, that we are what we are. We thank thee, O Lord, for that way of salvation. And we thank thee that the door of mercy is still open.
[7:20] That thou art still saying today, to those who are strangers to grace and to God. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden. And I will give you rest. We pray, O Lord, for each and every one of us gathered here.
[7:35] We thank thee that because of social distancing, the numbers can increase. And we thank thee that once more, we are able to gather in thy house. We pray that thou wouldst bless us all.
[7:46] That we would say it was good for us to have come and to have gathered here. We remember, O Lord, those who are watching and are unable to be with us for a variety of different reasons.
[7:57] We pray that thou wouldst be with them in their own particular situations. We thank thee that thou are not confined to buildings built with hands. And pray that thou wouldst be with thy people and with everyone who watches today.
[8:11] That this would be a time of blessing for each and every one of them. We remember those in our number at this time laid aside through sickness. Unable to be with us here. And pray that thou wouldst be with them in their own situation.
[8:24] And we remember especially those in our number whose sorrow and who are sad. For thou knowest at this time of year the messenger of death is always in our midst.
[8:35] And even at this time of year so often there are painful and difficult memories. But we thank thee that we can bring those who mourn to no higher than to thee. The God of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
[8:47] And we pray, O Lord, that thou wouldst be with all who mourn as thou alone can. We remember the congregations in our church. With their special places in our hearts today.
[8:58] And as we are enjoying to pray for Dumbarton. We pray that thou wouldst be with that congregation. And Andy Longway Cumbernauld who looks after them. And we remember two barbers and Murdo there.
[9:10] We see that these are two differing congregations. With differing challenges, with differing difficulties. But we thank thee that for them the gospel is the same. That it is still the power of God unto salvation.
[9:22] To everyone that believes. Remember this congregation here. We thank thee for them and for their faithfulness. And pray that thou wouldst continue to bless them. Bless all of them.
[9:34] We remember, O Lord, the elders, the deacons, the members and the adherents. We pray that thou wouldst add to their number. We pray, Lord, for David. As he is on holiday at this time.
[9:44] We remember him and pray that both him and Mary and the family would return physically and spiritually refreshed. To this great work to which thou hast called them. In this corner of thy vineyard.
[9:55] Remember him who leads the praise. And as our praise ascends to thee. May thy blessings descend to us. And we remember too, Angus. Who will preach this evening.
[10:06] We pray, Lord, that thou wouldst bless him. Not only as he preaches here. But wherever thou in thy providence will cast his lot. We pray, Lord, that thou wouldst go before us. Throughout this service we are gathered together here.
[10:19] May we all say, as I have said so long ago, we would see Jesus. And may we go away from this house and say, it was good for us to have gathered here. Be with us, we pray thee.
[10:30] Keep us looking unto thee. Lead us and guide us. And pardon our sins for Jesus' sake. Amen. Now I want to say a few words to the children. And I think the last time I was here they were all here.
[10:42] So it was kind of slightly easier. But we'll manage just the same. Now as you know, most days I go to Stornoway. I go with John Morrison's van. And usually when I'm passing by, not so much when I'm going, but usually when I'm passing by on the Clisham or in the car park in Boglas, there are people getting ready to go out walking in the hills.
[11:06] In Boglas they have a guide with them from the North Habits Trust. And in the Clisham, they're simply going themselves. And they're gathering together all their things, their jackets, their shoes, everything else, so that they can go away.
[11:20] Now although just now the weather is beautiful, and they go away, they come back, sometimes the weather in Harris can be a bit different. The other day I was going up and I noticed there was quite a bit of mist had fallen.
[11:31] And this can happen quite often. And I remember, not very long ago, a lady getting lost on Ben Luskentyr, near Farrakhar's house. And she phoned in in a panic.
[11:43] She phoned to get someone to go and rescue her. So we answered the phone and we tried to reassure her. And we asked if there were any landmarks. And she said, well there are, she said. There are sheep and there are rocks.
[11:55] And then, as if she was trying to help us any, she said, there's lots of them. Well I would like to say it helped, but it didn't. She found her way down to the main road and we didn't really do much to help her at all.
[12:07] But I'm just giving the point that even in good weather, the hills and harris can be dangerous and people can get lost. But we have to make preparation.
[12:19] We see these people, and I see them, who are getting their jackets and everything else. If we're going anywhere, we have to prepare. You don't, any of you, just wake up in the morning and decide you're going on holiday.
[12:33] And you're going to go on the ferry that day. But you couldn't do that anyway because it wouldn't take you on until September, October. But you can't just sort of get up and go. You need to prepare. Mums, dads, gannies, crampas, uncles, aunts.
[12:46] Somebody prepares a bag where you take all the important things that you're going to take from your holidays. Now the point I'm making is that when you are going on the hills, when you are going on a guided walk, when you are going on holiday, you have to make preparation.
[13:04] And every one of us has to make preparation for the journey of life. And we have to be properly prepared. You will get some people, they're just going in the t-shirts and the flip shop flops up the hills and then things go horribly wrong.
[13:18] We have to prepare in life. We have to prepare for the journey we are making. These people in Boglas have a guide to take them through the hills.
[13:30] And for us in life, we are the greatest guide of all. If we take the Lord Jesus into our life, he will be with us, he will keep us, he will guide us.
[13:40] And yes, on a journey, like journeying through the hills, there will be difficulties and things will go wrong. But Jesus promises never to leave us nor to forsake us. We can be, this sounds very complicated indeed for boys and girls, but we can be clothed in his righteousness.
[13:56] And that just simply means that Jesus died on our behalf. Jesus' blood cleanses us. And if we trust Jesus and take him into our life, he will be with us all the time.
[14:07] He will be the greatest of all guides. You know, when you go into hills now, we say an important thing people should take is a compass. I know we have electronic gadgets, but they go wrong.
[14:18] The compass never does. And the greatest compass we can have, and you can have all of you, as you start off through life, is the Bible. Because the Bible will keep you right. The Bible will keep you on the right hold.
[14:31] And you know, when you do a walk, any walk, anywhere, you go a long journey. But at the end of it, you come to your destination. You might be very tired, but you're there.
[14:42] And you know, it's the same when we're journeying through life. Jesus will be with us. He will never leave us if we trust in him. And at the end of the day, he will take us to heaven. You know, on a bad night, and you're crossing the mentioned, I'm sure many of you have, you're always delighted to see the lights of Tarbert or Stormy and come into calm waters.
[15:01] And in life, no matter what may go wrong, if we have Jesus, we have everything. And Jesus will take us one day to heaven. He will take us to heaven. He promises that if we follow him, we will never regret it.
[15:14] And my hope and prayer is that all of you who come to Sabbath school would follow Jesus in the days of your youth. Because all of us who are a bit older now will say one of the things we're sorry about is that we didn't follow Jesus much, much sooner.
[15:29] And may God bless each and every one of you. And we'll say a word of prayer before you go to Sabbath school. O Lord our God, as we come before thee, we pray that thou wouldst bless each and every young person here, from the youngest to the oldest.
[15:43] We thank thee for the special promise thou dost give, that those who seek the early shall find thee. For the rebuke thou dost give to thy disciples. Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not.
[15:54] For of such is the kingdom of heaven. We pray that thou wouldst bless all the teachers in Sunday school. We thank thee when we look back in our own lives for Sunday school teachers we had, who showed us an example, who taught us biblical truths, for which we'll be eternally grateful and which we will never forget.
[16:13] And we pray that thou wouldst bless all done in Sunday school. Bless all our young people. And our prayer for them is, that in the days of their youth, they may wake that wise choice, have thee, as their God and their Saviour.
[16:28] Go before us now, lead us and guide us. Pardon our sins for Jesus' sake. Amen. And we're going to continue singing this time in hymn number 759.
[16:39] Hymn number 759. And we're going to sing the whole of that hymn. A particular favourite of mine. When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more. And the morning breaks eternal bright and fair.
[16:52] When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore. And the roll is called up yonder. I'll be there. We'll sing the whole of that hymn. And may that be true of each and every one of us.
[17:03] When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more. When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more.
[17:23] And the morning breaks eternal bright and fair. When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more.
[17:58] On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise. And the glory of his resurrection share.
[18:10] When his chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies. And the roll is called up yonder I'll be there. When the roll is called up yonder.
[18:24] When the rule is called up yonder, I'll be there.
[18:40] Let us labour for the master from the dawn to setting sun. Let us talk of all his wondrous love and care. Then when all of life is over and the work on earth is done, and the rule is called up yonder, I'll be there.
[19:00] When the rule is called up yonder, when the rule is called up yonder, when the rule is called up yonder, when the rule is called up yonder, I'll be there.
[19:21] Amen. Our reading this morning is taken from the New Testament, and it's taken from the Acts of the Apostles. The New Testament and the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 17.
[19:36] And we're reading from the authorised King James Version. Acts of the Apostles, chapter 17. And we're reading from the beginning. Now when they had passed through Amphibolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was the synagogue of the Jews.
[19:55] And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them. And there three days reasoned with them out of the scripture, opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
[20:10] And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. But the Jews, which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city in an uproar, and a thought to the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
[20:35] And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city cry, These that have turned the world upside down, are come hither also. Whom Jason hath received, and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.
[20:54] And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. And when they had taken security of Jason and of the others, they let them go. And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas, by night, and to Berea, who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
[21:13] These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether these things were so.
[21:24] Therefore many of them believed, also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men not a few. But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people.
[21:42] And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul, to go as it were to the sea, but Silas and Timotheus abode there still. And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens, and received a commandment unto Saul and Timotheus, for to come to him with all speed they departed.
[22:01] Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue, with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily, with them that met with him.
[22:17] Then certain philosophers, of the Epicureans and of the Stoics, encountered him, and some said, What will this babbler say? Others, some, he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods, because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
[22:35] And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know who this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is. For there bringeth certain strange things to our ears, we would know therefore what these things mean.
[22:49] For all the Athenians and strangers, which were there, spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing. Then Paul stood in the midst of March Hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious, for as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, to the unknown God, whom therefore ye ignorant worship, him declared I unto you, God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worship with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things, and hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord, if happily they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us, for in him we live and move, and have our being, as certain of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring, for as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver or stone, graven by art and man's devices, and the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent, because he hath appointed a day, in which he will judge the world, in righteousness by that man, whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he raised him from the dead, and when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, and others said, we will hear thee again of this matter, so Paul departed from among them, albeit certain men clave unto him, and believed, among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Amalus, and others with them,
[24:54] Amen, and may God bless, that reading from his own holy and inerrant word, unto his name, be all the praise and the glory, we'll continue singing, and this time we're singing from Psalm 84, Metrical Psalm 84, from the beginning of that psalm, how lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of hosts to me, the tabernacles of thy grace, how pleasant Lord they be, my thirsty soul longs vehemently, he faints thy courts to see, my very heart and flesh cry out, O living God for thee, behold the sparrow findeth out, and house wherein to rest, the swallow also for herself, hath purchased a nest, even thy own altars where she's safe, her young ones forth may bring, O thou almighty Lord of hosts, who art my God and King, these four verses, the first four verses of Psalm 84, to God's praise, how lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of hosts to me, the tabernacles of thy grace, how pleasant Lord they be, my thirsty soul longs veil and clean, ye faints thy courts,
[26:32] O Lord of hosts to see, my very heart and flesh dry out, O living God for thee, Behold the spiral findeth out An house wherein to rest The small also for herself Hath purchased dead an end In thine own altars where she stayed Her young once forth may reign
[27:35] O thou almighty Lord of hosts Who art my God and King Now I want this morning you to go back with me Nearly 2,000 years To this chapter we were reading In this place called Mars Hill in Athens And it's a sermon that's relevant to us today Just as it was to those it was preached to so long ago But on this occasion in Acts When we see Paul giving this sermon He's not preaching to a congregation Of professing Jews Who knew the scriptures Who knew the Old Testament He's preaching quite simply To a pagan audience An audience who were drenched in heathen philosophy
[28:38] And he's speaking to them They didn't even have a basic understanding of God And he's speaking to them And preaching to them Now he's doing it on this city called Mars Hill And one thing about the Athenians It talks about them They were always keen to learn something new They always wanted to learn some new thing And one thing that was given to you If you wanted to speak on any subject And if you went to this hill called Mars Hill You were allowed for a certain amount of time to speak And nobody was allowed to heckle Nobody was allowed to interrupt you Because very often when you were speaking in these cities Especially in these heathen cities If anybody tried to speak about anything different They would be heckled They would be shouted down But on Mars Hill You were given time to speak And so Paul takes this opportunity Of speaking to these people
[29:40] And when we look at him standing here We see that Although he speaks different to earlier ways The message is the same The gospel of Christ Is for the needs of people everywhere What he did He didn't devise a different message He simply applied the same message In a different way We would have been conscious of that When our brother spoke last Sunday morning About working in circumstances And among people Much different to ourselves In a very, very difficult circumstance But yet The gospel is for them And yet The work he has done Is being greatly blessed Now the purpose of this morning I just want Don't want to go through All that Paul has said I just want to Look at the climax And the application of it In other words Just to look At verses 30 to 34 And my prayer
[30:41] And my hope is That as we Listen to it And as we hear What he has to say It will be blessed To each And every One of us Now on Friday Duncan said to me To give The points I was going to give And I didn't do it Because Believe it or not There were seven points And I thought If they look on the screen And they say seven points They will say seven points But they are all Very short points We see here Simple Paul telling The Athenians God's description Of their idolatry We see God's attitude Towards their idolatry We see God Commanding them To repent We see Why God Is commanding them To repent We see The righteous judge Himself God We see the certainty Of him coming to judge And then we see Finally And very very important Indeed We see the different Reactions To what
[31:42] Paul had to say Now we see here When we look at this In verse 30 The times of this Ignorance God winked at Paul is calling This Ignorance This is the way God describes The pagan religion Of which These Athenians Were a part Now what a shock It would be to them They were all scholars They thought there was Nobody as learned As they were They were experts In the school of philosophy They thought they knew Everything And to have Their systems And their practices Called this Was a shock To them all They couldn't believe This man Was saying this But yet It was true Because all Their boasted culture Had just left them Wandering In a maze Of superstition And idolatry They were just Everyone Did what seemed Right In their own eyes In a way
[32:42] It's a reflection In some ways Of our own day How people Wander in this maze Everyone Looks at things Differently There's no word Of the inerrant Word of God And there is Almost an obsession With everything else But we Believe In the word of God And God Says here To the Athenians As he says To all Who have no word Of him There is They are Ignorance And after The ignorance It says here The times Of this ignorance God winked at Now unfortunately In this translation It's not quite Winking Gives us the impression That somebody Is condoning somebody If something Somebody winks But what it means here Is it means Overlook In the sense Of not punishing God is not punishing Although you are This way Although you
[33:43] This is the way You live God is not Actually Punishing Punishing you He's suffering you Without punishment And the important point Paul is making here Is that This time Of long suffering Is not To last forever This time Of long suffering Will come To an end With the coming Of Christ With the revelation By him Of the gospel There is no longer Any excuse Paul is telling Jesus Came into the world To be the saviour Of men and women There is no excuse For any of you And you know For us Today We're 2000 years Later And yet God is long Suffering God is still Long suffering With us But this long Suffering Will not Be endless Just as He said To the Athenians Now after that He gives God's command
[34:44] God now Commandeth All men Everywhere To repent No sooner Has God Said That Has Paul Said That God Is not prepared To suffer Idolatry Than he says Very plainly To them You are commanded To repent Now while this Comes With the authority Of the creator And the lawgiver God himself It also comes From the redeemer In other words Paul is conveying To this audience God God is telling You to repent And the idea Of repentance Gives That it implies There is Forgiveness There is Forgiveness Here We see And we see Other examples Remember Jonah In the Old Testament Going into the city Of Nineveh The great city After he had been Put out by the big fish He wanders Through the city Of Nineveh And all he says To the Ninevites Is Forty days
[35:44] Nineveh Will be Destroyed He keeps repeating This mantra Forty days Nineveh Will be destroyed And the Ninevites Turned Because Giving this Word There was in it The implication That if You repent If you change Your ways God Will be gracious God is saying To them The fact of Commanding To repent Implies Forgiveness And how full Of the gospel This is Behind That solemn To turn From their Philosophies And their Idolatries There is This wondrous Provision That God Is prepared To be To Is prepared To Forgive Sin To forgive All you have Done And no wonder The son of God Places This command To the forefront Of his ministry The other Point is That through Repentance Isn't
[36:45] Sham like Judas Remember Judas We're given This example In scripture It's a warning To us all Through repentance Is still in faith Now Forged Nowadays Nobody who Comes to Jesus And this Amnitation Is given to us Is ever Turned away Having given This command Which Paul Gives the Athenians To repent He makes the Point too That God Will never Ever deny Forgiveness And reconciliation To any sinner Who comes To him In true repentance So they are Told To repent They are told To repent And why Are they told To repent Well Very simple We see there In the next verse It says In verse 31 Because He has appointed A day He has appointed A day It's appointed In the diary Of everlasting
[37:46] God An entry In indelible ink You know We write things Down in pen And after some time These pen fades But God writes it In indelible ink It's like when he says He writes Making up his jewels It is written And it is never Ever ever Going to be Erased There is An entry For us all On the day Of judgement There is an appointment Every human being Will have to keep You know nowadays We get appointments And very often People cancel For a variety of reasons But this is something Which can never Be cancelled This is the last This is the last journey We all must make The last appointment We all must keep It says very simply In scripture We must all stand Before the judgement seat Of God Now the command As well as Implying forgiveness Is also a call To us To prepare To get ready
[38:46] Because Paul Tells his hearers God will judge The world In righteousness Not to their standards Not to the Athenian standards Not to anyone's standards But his standards And what a word That is To everyone Even today We might Think Things will pass over We might legalise We might condone sin But this day Is neither today Than ever before And God tells us Simply That there is This judgement seat And we are also told In the next verse That there is A righteous judge Paul identifies The judge The Lord Jesus And the Lord Jesus Will make no mistake We sometimes hear And we hear a lot Of miscarriages Of justice Of things being done Which weren't right But you know With the Lord Jesus There is
[39:47] No mistake There is no appeal Court There is no mistake And the point Who is given At the close here Is that only Those Who find Christ As their saviour Will be ready To meet him On that day And even At the end here When he assured them Of the judge He is not Quite finished He makes One further point To drive home The truths The pagans Had already heard He says In raising Christ From the dead There is the clearest Evidence here He is going To come again It is him We have To do with And you know Today You will get people And they will Deny The literal resurrection But we need To draw attention Of it So that no one Misses The assurance Given Of Jesus Power to save And he gives
[40:49] This At the end Of verse 31 But then In the last Three verses We see Under the inspiration Of the Holy Spirit We neglect The matter Because we see The reaction To all Who heard It All who heard This word Three different Reactions Some Mocked As soon as They heard The resurrection Some Mocked Raising from the dead Was so against Their philosophies All they had Was human reason And little Did they realise Rejecting The only message Regarding salvation God Hath revealed From heaven They were rejecting This out and out They didn't believe Any of it And as I say Today There are many people Who reject Truths The truth We have to hear Most
[41:49] Now none of us Will be in this category But we see there That as well as The ones who mocked There were Ones Who were Said They would hear About it later Some said We will hear The again later Of this matter It was different From the past Teachings They had had There was A temporary effect On their lives And sometimes For us We might come To the house Of God We might hear A service And it might Have an effect On our lives But it might Not last We're given In scripture Very very Solemn warnings Solemn warnings Of a man Called Felix Who said When I have a Convenient season I will hear From you Solemn warnings Of a man Called Pistus Who said You've almost Persuaded me To be a Christian People Who were Very near The kingdom The example
[42:51] Of the young man Who ran to Jesus The man called The Christian Ruler He went away Sorrowful When God Touched The point In his life That he had Great possessions And we get These examples Of people In scripture And solemnly And sadly We never hear Anything Of them Ever again And we see Here Those who Were almost Persuaded I used to have In a school History book And I'm sure Mrs. Morris In the church History also had And it started At the very start It was appeasement Between the wars And the very opening Section of it Said this quote The road to hell Is paved With good intentions And how true That is We may have Great intentions But good intentions Are not enough God is saying To us today Like Paul was Saying to these Heathens Athletes Hear God's voice Follow Jesus
[43:52] Don't leave it For a convenient season The convenient season Might never Ever come We see these people Here And they said They thought One day Will come But were never told That day Ever came So we see Those who put it off They put it off For a convenient season But we also see And we're thankful Of it In the last verse Of this chapter That some people Believed The apostle Would have been Disheartened Our Lord was Disheartened And nobody preached Greater than him He was disheartened He said Oh Jerusalem How often would I Have gathered you But you would not Come Paul was disheartened By those Going away But some Remained How good it is To learn For them That the judge Was also The saviour The command To repent Contained
[44:53] A glorious offer Of a free And full salvation And what encouragement That was Not to despair It was far better For Paul To tell The Athenians And to expose The folly Of their ways Far better To have it When they were There in life Than on the day Of judgment And it's better To have the stress Over what We've done now Than to have it At a heavenly Tribunal Now many Many souls Were listening On Mars Hill And as I said Most scoffed Some Later A few Followed And it's like that Even today The number that Follow May be somewhat Few But We see here Those The effects Of Paul's Preaching And you know For us all It's one Of three things
[45:54] Our reaction To the gospel For all of us Is we either Don't listen At all We either put it off Or we either Say later And for God's People who are here And they all Say the same thing The great regret We have Is that we put it off When we were given The opportunity We left it off We put it off To a later date But thankfully God spoke to us And God converted us And God speaks to people In lots of different ways Not just the greatness Of the apostle Paul For myself I read a gospel tract I'd heard thousands And thousands of sermons But it was a gospel tract That converted me And God spoke to me And for each And every one of us If we're outside Of the fold God is knocking today On the door Of our lives You'll remember And you'll all have seen Holman's hand Wonderful painting The light Of the world
[46:54] Where it shows Jesus With a lantern And his hand At the door And there's no bolt On the outside Because we have to Open it for him And as the hymn writer says Room and time Now give to Jesus He's in you His word obey He's at heaven's door And may we open And may we take him in We see here The great message Paul gives And our prayer And my hope Is that we would all Hear him speaking to us And we would all Be able to say As the hymn writer said Let us labour Let us labour For the master From the dawn To setting sun Let us talk Of all this wondrous Love and care And when all of life Is over And this place On earth is done And the world Is called up yonder I'll be here May our hope Be built On nothing less Than Jesus' blood And righteousness As we see This great Truths Which were expounded May we all today Hear God speaking to us
[47:56] And may we all As these heathen In Athens So long ago Turn to Jesus Take Jesus Into our lives Have Jesus As our leader And as our guide As I said to the children And may he Follow us All the days Of our lives And may God bless These few thoughts On his word Let us pray O Lord our God As we think of the words So solemnly spoken In Athens By the Apostle Paul Speaking of the need To repent Speaking of judgment To come We thank thee That there are also men Those who followed him In that Over nearly 2,000 years ago And we thank thee That today People are still following him And may we O Lord Each And every one of us As we gather here Be resolved to follow Jesus To have Jesus In our lives To have Jesus As our saviour To have Jesus As the best Of all musters Be with us We pray thee And as we go away From this place We pray That we would all
[48:57] Be resolved To follow Jesus Keep us looking Unto thee Lead us And guide us And pardon our sins For Jesus Amen We'll close today By singing in hymn number 31 And the great words Of John Newton And may it be true Of each and every one of us As we gather here Amazing grace How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost But now I'm found Was belowed But now I see The whole of hymn 31 To God's praise Amazing grace How sweet the sound Amazing grace How sweet the sound
[49:57] That saved a wretch like me I once was lost But now I'm found Was blind But now I see T'was grace That taught my heart To fear And grace My fears Beed How precious Did that grace appear The hour I first fear Through many dangers Toils and snails
[51:01] I have already come T'was grace That brought me safe thus far And grace will lead me home When we've been there Ten thousand years Like shining as the sun We've known We've known as days To sing God's grace And when we've been there And when we first begun Close with prayer Oh Lord our God As we now bow at the presence
[52:02] The close of the service We pray that thou wouldst be with us In the week ahead And though none of us Knows who the week holds If we strengthen our hope is Fixed in the God who holds All our tomorrows We will be safe for time And for eternity And now unto him Who is able to keep us from falling And to present us faultless Before the Father's face With great joy To the only wise God With power and dominion Strength and might Both now And forevermore Amen