[0:00] Good morning everybody and welcome to our service this morning. A special welcome to visitors who join with us. I'm seeing a few who we've had here before and some who are new.
[0:11] You're very welcome here today. At the end of this service we'll serve tea and coffee. We'd probably be brought in just here. So if you're able to stay for a short time after for a cuppa and a chat with us you'd be very welcome.
[0:25] We welcome today Donnie McLeod, formerly of the Faith Mission. Who's now retired but not retired. As he will be bringing God's word to us this morning and again this evening.
[0:39] And our evening service is at 6pm. During the week meetings as usual. Ladies Fellowship tomorrow night. Road to Recovery on Tuesday at 7pm.
[0:51] And the prayer meeting on Wednesday at 7.30pm. Which will be in person here and on Zoom as well. I think E&A is leading that if I remember rightly.
[1:03] And then the services next Sunday at 11 and 6 will be taken by the Reverend Kenny I. McLeod. And during the Minister's absence. Ian McRitchie of Park will be available to deal with urgent pastoral issues.
[1:18] And if anyone has any particular need of support. Please speak to one of the elders in the first instance. A reminder that there will be a meeting here on the 20th of April in the church.
[1:32] A healthy gospel church gathering. In which the mission director and the chief executive of the free church will be speaking. And helping us to think through what it means to have a healthy gospel church.
[1:46] Both here and I think throughout Scotland. And finally I can ask all those who would have an interest in going to Romania.
[1:58] As we sent a party to Romania to help there once before several years ago. If you have an interest in that. Please go and meet with Angus.
[2:09] Just at the close of the service for 10 minutes. And that will be very helpful. So these are all the intimations. And we pray for God's blessing upon Donnie. As he leads us now in worship. Thank you.
[2:49] We'll sing two verses from Psalm 37 in Gaelic. Verses 3 to 5. To God's praise. Amen. Curset the God.
[3:06] Amnigil. Christiana. Mayasla. Curset the God.
[3:17] Curset the God.
[3:47] Curset the God.
[4:17] Curset the God.
[4:47] Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God.
[5:01] Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God.
[5:15] Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God.
[5:29] Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God.
[5:43] Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God.
[5:54] Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God.
[6:05] Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Curset the God. Let's come and join together in prayer. Curset the God.
[6:17] Curset the God. Lord, we do thank you that we can come to you and bow humbly before you in your presence. As these words were being sung, set thou thy trust upon the Lord and be thy doing good.
[6:33] We come before you, O Lord, and we pray that indeed our trust would be set upon you. Our hope, our thoughts, our attention, our gaze.
[6:46] Because we come to worship you, the living and the true God. You are worthy of all worship and of all praise.
[6:58] And so we thank you for this wonderful privilege that we have to come together to worship in this lovely building, in the peace and quiet.
[7:10] We ask that we would be very aware of God's presence with us. We thank you that we come to worship a risen Lord Jesus Christ.
[7:22] The one who we'll be singing of shortly when we sing up from the grave. He arose with a mighty triumph o'er his foes. Thank you for that great victory that was won at Calvary's cross.
[7:39] Jesus died and was buried yet rose again. He lives. He lives. He lives. Christ Jesus lives today. O Lord, we thank you for your goodness to us.
[7:53] We thank you for all that we have in him. We thank you, Lord, for all the blessings that we receive from you every day. We thank you, Lord, that you have brought us together for such a time as this.
[8:07] We thank you that you are our help and our strength because we are weak. We thank you for this lovely day. Thank you for health and strength to be able to be here.
[8:19] Thank you for the food that we enjoy, the clothes that we wear, the homes that we have. Thank you for friendship and fellowship in the gospel. We are a privileged people.
[8:30] And we thank you, Lord, that we have so much to reflect upon. We have so much to look forward to. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Help us to truly know that we are in your presence.
[8:44] Help us to be so aware of the presence of God that makes the feast. And so we thank you and praise you that we can come. And may our worship be acceptable in your sight.
[8:57] May all that stand be glorified and honoring to your great and worthy name. We pray, O Lord, for everyone who has been able to come here this morning.
[9:09] From the youngest to the oldest. We ask that together you would bless us and make this time a blessing to us. We remember many others gathered like we are, too.
[9:23] That you would help and undertake for your servants. And that the word going forth today would be richly blessed. That many lives would be touched and changed. We pray that your kingdom would be advanced.
[9:36] So, Lord, we spread this time out before you. Pray that your will would be done. That you will have your way. Keep us focused upon yourself.
[9:47] Forgive us for our sins, we ask. In Jesus' name. Amen. Now, I want to share just a little bit with the boys and girls.
[9:59] And this might be a ridiculous question to ask people in Harries. I don't know. Time will tell. Has anybody ever been to the Shin Falls? Blank looks all round.
[10:11] Nobody has ever heard of them. Never mind. Been there. Yes, John, you've spent some time up in that area. At least we have one. One person will understand what I'm talking about here just now.
[10:24] I just thought maybe you would have been perhaps on holiday doing a bit of sightseeing around Sutherland. And of course, if you were there, you would want to go to the Shin Falls.
[10:35] Just a very popular tourist spot. A place where you can go and see salmon jumping. And many attempts they do make indeed to get up the Shin Falls.
[10:48] I was in a congregation in Mure of Orchist. I don't know. It might have been last Sunday. I've kind of lost track of time a bit. And there were quite a few people there who had been to the Shin Falls to see the salmon jumping.
[11:03] And I asked the question, did anybody ever see a salmon actually being able to swim against the force, the power of the water to actually swim up the Shin Falls?
[11:18] Have you seen that, John? You never know. Not many people have actually seen a salmon getting up, but they do. I have seen it once. And I think the few people that did see it in Arie Free Church, they only saw it on one occasion.
[11:35] My brother being one of them, he had a bus company and was often there with bus tours and was there often. Very, very few salmon. But it's amazing that even a salmon can swim against the power of the water and actually get up.
[11:54] Many of them jump and they just fall back down again. Some of them jump and they just get up a wee bit and they manage to hold their own against the power of the water for a little bit just to get swept back down again.
[12:07] But occasionally, there must be a very, very strong salmon. They jump powerfully and you can see them just managing to swim against them. There's just a desperate force of water and they manage to make it all the way up.
[12:22] And you can imagine when that happens, there's always lots of people there watching. And you can imagine when that happens, there's just a great cheer. Because it's very, very seldom.
[12:33] You could stand for hours and probably never see that happening. As I was thinking about that swimming against the tide and the force of that water.
[12:45] I was thinking about, you know, only a very, very strong fish could manage to do that. The majority of them, they're not going to make it. Some of them just, you just see them jumping and they're nowhere near even getting up or getting close.
[13:02] And I thought, that's where we are. You know, when it comes to getting to heaven, to getting right with God, we're not even close.
[13:16] In fact, we're not even the fish that you would see jumping. We couldn't even create a splash in the water, as it were.
[13:28] We are just the weak ones. And there's that whole force of water that there are many forces against us that will prevent us getting to heaven.
[13:40] And we are so weak that we're not going to make it. Now you might say, well, that's not a very encouraging children's talk on this Sunday morning.
[13:51] But hold on. There's more to come. You see, what all is against us when we think of that? When you see the force of the water at the Shin Falls, you think, there's all the force of that water just against any fish that would attempt to make it.
[14:09] So what's against us in our attempts? Well, the Bible tells us, first of all, that we've been born with sin. We have a sinful nature.
[14:20] So sin stops us getting to God. In the Bible it says, But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you that he will not hear.
[14:34] So though there's our sinful nature, it stops us, it prevents us. But then there's God's enemy, the devil, isn't there? And the Bible tells us that all he tells us is lies.
[14:48] He's got no truth in him, the Bible tells us that. All he tells us is lies. So he's telling us lies. A barrage of lies to prevent us, to keep us back, to make us think we're just fine as we are.
[15:04] Oh, you don't really need to get there, you're okay. And he'll tell us lots of things. He'll make everything else more attractive to us than the Lord Jesus Christ.
[15:19] Because he has only lies. And then you see there's the world, isn't there? There's all the attraction in the world.
[15:32] And the enemy would want us to see all that's in the world. And think that we're better off with all of that than we are with Jesus.
[15:44] So there's a whole force against us. And we are weak. And we just can't make it. We're just like that little fish in the water that, you know, we're never going to get there.
[16:00] But, you see, it's not for the strong ones that Jesus came. It's not for the ones that think they can make it on their own that Jesus came.
[16:13] Jesus came for the weak ones. He came for people like us who have sinned. The sin has separated us from God.
[16:26] We've got it wrong. We've missed the mark. We can't get there. And it's for people like that, the weak ones, who couldn't even make a splash in the water. Jesus came.
[16:39] And in John chapter 10, he says, I give them eternal life. They will never perish. That's those who put their trust in him.
[16:51] And no one will snatch them out of my hand. You see, we have a wonderful Savior who's alive. And we can call out to him and ask him to save us.
[17:05] Ask him to help us. Just say, Lord, I cannot get there myself. Please forgive me. Please save me.
[17:16] And make me yours. And you know this will be a wonderful day for you. If you have never put your trust in Jesus Christ before, you can put your trust in him.
[17:28] And in your weakness, he will make you strong. In your weakness, he will help you through. In your weakness, he will keep you all the days of your life.
[17:43] He says, I give them eternal life. So, look to Jesus. Trust in him. You can't make it. You need help.
[17:54] But help is at hand. Jesus is alive. And he is, his ear is turned towards you. And if you call out to him, he will answer.
[18:07] And he alone is able to save. We're going to sing a hymn now. It's an Easter hymn. It talks about the resurrection.
[18:18] Low in the grave. He lay, Jesus my Saviour, waiting. The coming day, Jesus my Lord. And the chorus says, up from the grave.
[18:30] He arose with a mighty triumph. O his foes. He arose a victor from the dark domain. And he lives forever with his saints to reign. He arose. He arose.
[18:41] Hallelujah. Christ arose. We'll stand to sing, please. O when the grave he lay.
[18:59] Jesus my Saviour. Within the coming day. Jesus my Lord.
[19:13] Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph for his foes. He arose, a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever with his saints to live.
[19:32] He arose, he arose, hallelujah, Christ arose. Mainly they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior.
[19:54] Mainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord. Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph for his foes.
[20:11] He arose, a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever with his saints to live.
[20:22] He arose, he arose, hallelujah, Christ arose. He arose, a victor of the demons reign, Jesus my Savior.
[20:40] He tore the barge away, Jesus my Lord. Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph for his foes.
[20:59] He arose, a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever with his saints to live. He arose, he arose, hallelujah, Christ arose.
[21:18] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. I would like to turn and read God's word together from the book of Acts.
[21:30] This should be a Sunday school, a holiday Sunday school. Okay, it's a Sunday school. Okay, thank you. Thank you.
[21:51] Reading is from the book of Acts, in chapter 13, at verse 13. We'll read through to verse 43. Acts chapter 13, at verse 13.
[22:02] Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem.
[22:14] But they went on from Perga and came to Antioch and Poseidon. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. After reading from the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.
[22:35] So Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said, Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt.
[22:51] And with uplifted arm he led them out of it. And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance.
[23:07] All this took about four hundred and fifty years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king and God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
[23:24] And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, I have found in David, the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.
[23:38] Of this man's offering, God has brought to Israel a Saviour, Jesus, as he promised. Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
[23:53] And as John was finishing his course, he said, What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No. But behold, after me one is coming.
[24:04] The sandals of his feet I am not worthy to untie. Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.
[24:19] For those who live in Jerusalem and the rulers, because they did not recognize him, nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which were read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.
[24:33] And they thought they found in him, and though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.
[24:50] But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.
[25:02] And we bring you the good news, that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, you are my son, today I have begotten you.
[25:21] And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.
[25:35] Therefore, he says also in another Psalm, you will not let your holy ones see corruption. For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers, and saw corruption.
[25:51] But he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Let it be known to you, therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which could, you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
[26:12] Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the prophet should come about. Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish, for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.
[26:26] And as they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath, and after the meeting of the synagogue broke up. Many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.
[26:50] Amen. And we know that God will bless his word to us. Let's again draw near to God in prayer. Our gracious God, we thank you that you have given us your word.
[27:07] We thank you that we have it to read and to meditate upon. It's a living word. And we pray that to every heart here today, it would be a living word.
[27:17] Lord, we thank you that we can, as we look to you, we can remember others and call out to you for those who are not so privileged as we are.
[27:31] We can meet here in this lovely building with peace and quiet. We're safe. Lord, we know that there are many people who are, they can't meet like this because of fear.
[27:44] They're persecuted. They're imprisoned. They're living on the edge of fear every day of their lives. Many have lost homes, have had to flee into jungles and try to find safety and refuge and even in dangerous places.
[28:03] We want to remember your people today who are going through troubled times. And we ask that they would be so aware this morning, this Sunday morning, that of the risen Lord Jesus so close to them, near to them, keeping them, giving them strength for each day, protecting them, we pray.
[28:25] Lord, we pray for your arms to be around those who are persecuted and that you would watch over them. We pray for the gospel going forth in many parts and we ask that you would just help those who seek to reach out with this glorious message.
[28:44] Jesus is able to save anyone who comes to him. Jesus died but yet rose again. And he died for sinners.
[28:56] And so we thank you that we have a wonderful message to proclaim, the message of salvation. and we pray that as the message goes forth today that people would hear it like they would hear it for the first time.
[29:09] Even if they've perhaps heard it many times, may it come with a reality today that they've never experienced before because you have applied it with the power of your spirit to hearts that are unbelieving hearts, hearts that have been perhaps cold and hearts that have been far off.
[29:33] Yet you can, you came for people like this that you could draw them near to yourself, that you could soften their hearts, that you could bring the light of the gospel to them and shine bright into their hearts that they would believe, that they would see the wonder of who you are, that they would see for the first time the wonder of Jesus who won that great victory over the grave, over death and is alive and alive forevermore.
[30:05] So Lord, we pray in our land the need is so great. We desperately need the gospel to go forth with power and with authority and the power of the spirit that people would hear, that people would see and people would put their trust in you.
[30:24] men and women and boys and girls, those in authority, those, O Lord, who rule over us. We pray for them and ask that they might see the light of the gospel this day and that there would be a ruling with the fear of God and a ruling with, according to your truth, that righteousness alone exalts a nation.
[30:50] And so we pray for our nation in these troubled times. we ask that we would see better days. We ask that we would know and experience days of God's reviving power coming upon us.
[31:03] O Lord, have mercy, we pray. Bless those who are not well at this time. We remember them and pray for your strength to be their strength and your hand to be very much upon them.
[31:16] We pray for any who mourn the loss of a loved one. And we ask that they would know the comfort that God alone can give. We pray, O Lord, for any who are going through troubled times, perhaps in a dark place, that they see no way out.
[31:31] We ask you, O Lord, that you would minister to them and that they might be able to see through, that they would have the faith to see beyond the dark place, to see right through to the Saviour himself.
[31:44] O Lord, we ask you that you would bless David, the minister here, as he's away. May he know a time of refreshing and blessing. And we thank you for him and for Mary and for the family.
[31:59] Watch over them, O Lord, and keep them. And may they always know the Lord near, leading and guiding every step of the way. And we pray for the men of the congregation here who are away preaching in other parts this morning.
[32:14] We ask that you would come to them and give them strength and give them freedom, give them the action of the Holy Spirit, as your word goes forth throughout this island.
[32:25] O Lord, we pray that this might be a great and an awesome day, that the power of God would fall upon every gathering where your truth is upheld. We pray that we might hear great and wonderful things of what God is doing.
[32:40] Lord, lead us on with yourself, we pray. Strengthen us and encourage us in all of your ways. And we ask that you would get all the praise and all the glory in Jesus' name.
[32:51] Amen. We're going to sing again, this time from Sing Psalms, in Psalm 16, and verses 7 to 11.
[33:06] I'll praise the Lord, my God, whose counsel guides my choice. We'll stand to sing, please. I praise the Lord, my God, whose counsel guides my choice.
[33:30] I hear the sound of joy she in the light, his heart, For me constantly, I said the Lord, the Lord, Because He is at my right hand, I'll not be overthrown.
[34:21] Therefore my heart is glad, my down with joy will save, My body too will rest secure in hope and withering.
[34:53] For you will not allow my soul in death to sin, Nor will you leave your Holy One To see the tombs decay.
[35:30] You have reigned unto me The path of life divine Which shall I know At your right hand Joy from your face will shine.
[36:04] Amen. I want us to turn back to the passage we've read from Acts chapter 13.
[36:16] And look at some thoughts from this passage, Particularly the verses from 26. And in verse 30, we read that God raised him from the dead.
[36:32] Jesus is alive. And of course Christianity is different from other religions, Because we come, we worship a Saviour who's alive, The living Lord Jesus Christ.
[36:50] And I just want to look at a few thoughts, What that means, Or what some of the things that that will mean for us today. Today, Especially if we actually know and love the Lord Jesus Christ.
[37:06] I want to look, first of all, At the fact that we belong to a privileged family. We're a privileged family.
[37:17] You can see that in verse 26, When Paul addresses the brothers and sons of the family of Abraham, To those among you who fear God, To us who have been sent the message of salvation.
[37:33] Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham. Paul, of course, here is speaking to fellow Jews. He is at home. And the brothers and sons of the family of Abraham.
[37:46] And the Jews would have looked on Abraham as their ancestor. But Paul is actually making the distinction here. He's talking not so much in that sense, But as in a spiritual sense.
[37:58] That brothers and sons of the family of Abraham. I don't know if you ever learned the little chorus, Father Abraham has many sons, Many sons as Father Abraham.
[38:09] I am one of them and so are you. So let's all praise the Lord. Have you ever heard? No, it's a wee bit like the shin. Oh yes, some have heard that. So yeah, so we're all in that sense, Those who know and love the Lord Jesus Christ.
[38:25] We're sons, we're brothers and sisters in him. And he's talking about those who fear God. Talking to the Gentiles.
[38:36] And he also says to us. So he's including really everyone, One here, women and all. They're all included. Those who had a desire to seek the Lord.
[38:48] Privileged to us has been sent the message of salvation. You know, I don't know if we think about that enough, do we?
[39:00] How privileged we actually are. And we're all privileged because I know that everyone who comes along to the church here in North Harris hears that message.
[39:16] So we're all privileged. Whether we have really truly grasped it or not, we're still privileged because we're hearing it. The message has been sent and God sends his servants to bring that message to us.
[39:33] And so we're a privileged people. This word sent, it's quite a strong word. And it means more than just sending something.
[39:45] It means sent with a purpose to achieve something. Like, for example, it's many times the same words used throughout Scripture. In John 1 and 6, for example, there was a man sent from God whose name was John.
[40:03] Same sent. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. In John 3 and 17, we read that God did not send his Son, it's the same word, into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
[40:24] So this word sent is a strong word. It's with a purpose to achieve something. So the message is sent. This message of salvation has been sent to us for a purpose to achieve that all might come to know and trust in him.
[40:47] And this is the message that united the people that this address was given back in the synagogue in these days. And this is the message that unites his people, the message of salvation.
[41:01] And indeed, may we count it a real privilege. And a real privilege indeed if by God's grace you were able to respond to this message.
[41:13] And you know the reality of it in your heart today. That you know that this message was sent to you. And you can go to a time in your life where by God's grace you were able to receive it with joy into your heart.
[41:29] And you know the Saviour that is alive and up from the grave arose. Because you can say he's your Saviour. Whether it happened in a moment of time or whether it happened over a period of time, it doesn't matter.
[41:43] What's important today is that you can say, yes, Jesus is my Saviour. I know him. I know he loves me and I love him. What a privilege people to have such a glorious message sent.
[41:58] And it was sent from him to us. What a privilege. God raised him from the dead.
[42:10] You see, they found no guilt in him. We read that. Worthy of death. But they asked Pilate to have him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written of him, written of him back in Scripture in the Old Testament, took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.
[42:28] They thought they had got rid of him. They thought they had got rid of him. But then we read, but God raised him from the dead.
[42:39] And the message is going out here in the dead. And the message is going out here in Tarbird today. The message of salvation. And it will be going out in many places throughout the world.
[42:52] And it will be going out here in the dead. And it will be going out here in the dead. We're a privileged people. We're a privileged people. To have such a glorious message.
[43:05] Not just any message. It's a message of life and death. It's a message that comes to us. And which we're, by God's grace, able to respond by faith.
[43:20] That makes a difference at the end of the day whether we're going to be among those who will rejoice with him in heaven. Or those that will be lost in hell for all eternity.
[43:36] That's the seriousness of the message. But yet I want to look secondly. There were promises that were fulfilled in verse 32.
[43:46] And we bring you the good news. That's what God promised to the fathers. The good news was told right back throughout the Old Testament.
[43:58] In verse 33. Thus he fulfilled to their children by raising Jesus. And we also have a quotation from Psalm 2. You are my son today.
[44:09] I have begotten you. And this term, raising Jesus, is not so much talking about Jesus rising from the dead. It's not so much speaking about the resurrection. It's really speaking about that he brought forth.
[44:21] Jesus was brought forth. God gave his son. And we know that from Malachi through to Jesus there was years of silence and darkness.
[44:34] But then Jesus breaks forth. When people were wondering, where is this Savior? Where is these promises? When are they going to be fulfilled? And Jesus breaks forth into the scene of time.
[44:46] God gave his son. In Galatians 4.4 we read, But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son. And we should be thankful for that.
[45:00] How amazing is this? That for sinful people and into a dark and sinful world, God sent forth his son.
[45:13] And can I ask you today, this wonderful message of salvation, has it made a difference in your life?
[45:24] Has it truly changed your life? Has it truly transformed your life? Or are you one of those people who you come along to the service and you leave the service and you get back to what you do and your life has never really been transformed through the power of this message?
[45:52] And you're missing out drastically. You're missing out on the greatest gift of all. You're missing out on the greatest thing that could ever happen to you, that you can know your sins forgiven.
[46:08] You see, this message changes lives. But the promise, that was the first promise we see here, that God sent forth his son. Now there's a second promise.
[46:19] And the second promise is that God made a covenant. And it was an everlasting covenant. In verse 34, and for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.
[46:38] And that's cited from Isaiah 55. Incline your ear and come to me here that your soul may live. And I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
[46:49] This is a wonderful promise for all. You see, coming to Jesus, it's the most amazing thing that you could ever do.
[47:00] And as I was trying to say with the children, we can't do that ourselves. We can't even cause a splash in the water, as it were, to make any advances towards heaven spiritually.
[47:15] We cannot do that. But we can cry out to him, the one who was sent. In the fullness of time, God sent forth his son.
[47:27] He sent him forth for you and me. And you know, we can reach out to him, and we can cry out to him, and we can call out to him to save us. And we enter into a covenant, and God enters into a covenant with us.
[47:41] That's the beginning, and it's a promise that will never fail. He promises to be our God. What a promise that is.
[47:52] He will be our God, and we will be his people. And he will bind himself to us. We have an anchor for our soul at whatever we might be going through.
[48:05] We'll never be going through it alone. And there will be difficult times, and there will be struggles, and there will be dark times. But we have one that will never leave us, even although we might feel alone.
[48:20] We have one that will hold on to us, who has bound himself to us, because he has promised in a covenant that he will always be our God.
[48:31] What a friend we have in Jesus. Remember, I was up in a prayer meeting in Rogart Free Church, and my cousin up there, Sandy Sutherland, who's in glory now, used to love to hear him praying.
[48:50] And he just started off his prayer at the prayer meeting one Wednesday night. What a friend we have in Jesus.
[49:05] And you know, there was something about just the way that he said it. He wasn't just saying it. He knew it in his life.
[49:16] What a friend we have in Jesus. Sure and certain that nothing can pluck us out of his hand.
[49:30] But there was a third promise in these verses too. He is alive forevermore. Therefore, in verse 35, he says also in another psalm, you will not let your Holy One see corruption.
[49:43] That's in Psalm 16. And, of course, the passage goes on to illustrate this. In verse 36, David, after his work was done, was laid to rest until the coming of the Lord.
[49:56] For David, after he had served the purposes of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption. But with Jesus, it was so different.
[50:09] It was so different. Because as we were singing, up from the grave he arose with a mighty triumph over his force. What a victory was won that day.
[50:21] And you know it was won for you. And it was won for me. As the little chorus says, it's in the name of Jesus that we have the victory.
[50:34] Because he rose, because he rose, because he lives, we also can live when our trust and our hope is in him.
[50:45] And as we'll be singing a little later on, because he lives, I can face tomorrow. There's forgiveness proclaimed also in these verses.
[51:00] In verse 38, Let it be known to you, therefore, brothers, that through this man, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. You know, this is powerful.
[51:12] This is just not any message. This is the message of salvation. This speaks about forgiveness. It's wonderful to know your sins forgiven, isn't it?
[51:29] You know, you can smile. If you're forgiven today, we should be the happiest, most joyous people on all of this earth.
[51:43] We're forgiven. And we could never be forgiven without Jesus. unless God sent forth his son, unless Jesus died on the cross, unless he rose again.
[51:58] The work of salvation is finished, it's complete. Forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. This is powerful. You know, is that not what a seeking soul longs for forgiveness?
[52:14] I remember back in my own experience when I didn't really know what was going on. But all I could do was just cry out to God because my sin was before me.
[52:29] And I knew I needed forgiven. And all I could do was just cry out and say, Lord, forgive me for all of my sins.
[52:40] That was my prayer. A seeking soul just longs for forgiveness. And then, when you have that glorious and blessed assurance to know that Jesus Christ has come and that you're cleansed from sin, what a joy will fill your soul.
[53:02] Do you remember? We're living in the light of that. Forgiven. You know, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
[53:15] Your cry, my friend, today, if you have never cried out before, remember you are crying out to a living Savior. One who is alive, one who can hear.
[53:26] It doesn't matter how poor or faint your cry is, cry out to him. That's all he needs to hear. This is the message that's being proclaimed.
[53:41] Forgiveness. And just finally, there's a freedom that is possible. In Acts 13, 39, And by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
[53:59] And by him everyone who believes is freed from everything for which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
[54:09] Keeping the law of Moses would never free anyone. I remember David Patterson had the privilege of sitting under his ministry in Perth for many years.
[54:21] He preached a sermon on keeping the standards, trying to keep the standards. And you know there are many people trying to do that. Just trying to live as good a life as possible, trying to do the right thing and, you know, in a sense that's fine.
[54:41] But do you know what he said then? He says, he says, you will die keeping the standards. You will die keeping the standards. Without Jesus, you see, because Jesus alone is able to free you from everything from which keeping the standards, keeping the law of Moses, people were never free.
[55:09] the blood that was shed on Calvary's cross is your only hope. It's the blood that will cleanse from all sin.
[55:21] Oh, the old hymn writers used to write a lot about that, didn't they? One said, out of my bondage, sorrow, and night, Jesus I come, Jesus I come, into your gladness and light, Jesus I come to you.
[55:41] You know that's a freedom that you can know today. If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, that the old has passed away, behold the new has come.
[55:55] Do you know this new life in Christ? Do you know this freedom, what it means to be set free? If the Son will set you free you will be free indeed.
[56:07] That it can be a new day. Yesterday's gone, this day is here, it can be a new day.
[56:20] Remember the morning I went out after the Sunday when I knew I had come to know Jesus Christ as Saviour.
[56:31] I remember the next morning going out and looking at the creation and just seeing it differently.
[56:44] Because you know there's something, the hymn says, there's something lives in every hue, Christless eyes has never seen. Heaven above is softer blue, earth below is sweeter green.
[56:57] have you seen it? Do you know him? No, you're not free. People tend to think that Christians are the ones that are in bondage.
[57:16] People think, oh well, Christianity is boring. People think that whenever you become a Christian you'll not be able to enjoy your life anymore. all of the devil's lies.
[57:30] You'll never find joy like you'll find when you become a Christian. You'll never find peace ever until you put your trust in Jesus Christ.
[57:43] Because the peace that he gives is not the peace that the world gives. You'll never know that freedom to be freed from sin, to be set gloriously free, to follow him, to obey him, to trust in him.
[58:03] May God help us this day to come. He is alive. He is risen, gloriously risen, seated at the right hand of God the Father, even interceding for his people.
[58:19] He's calling to those who are still outside to come to him, to trust him. This message has once again come to you. It's been sent with a purpose.
[58:32] Will you respond to it? Will you come and ask him to be your savior, that you might receive the greatest need that you will ever have in your life met through Jesus Christ as Lord?
[58:49] Lord, we do pray that you would come and help us to know your presence, help us to know your power, help us to know how we are to respond to this message today that Jesus is alive.
[59:08] Help any, O Lord, who have never yet come to him to come, to simply cry out as forgiveness is proclaimed. You will be able to free us from what keeping the standards could never free us from.
[59:27] Thank you, Lord, that you sent this message to us. Thank you, Lord, that you've given it to us freely. Thank you, Lord, that the gospel is the power of God and the salvation to everyone who believes.
[59:40] O Lord, we pray today that there would be believing hearts, there would be those who would leave today knowing that they have met with the risen Lord Jesus, the one who died on the cross, the one who was buried but yet rose again.
[60:00] O Lord, we thank you. What a friend we have in Jesus. We give you all the praise in his precious name. Amen. We're going to sing in closing the hymn, God sent his son.
[60:15] They called him Jesus. Life is worth the living just because he lives. Amen. Amen.
[61:20] Amen. Amen.
[62:20] Amen. Amen.
[62:52] Amen. Amen.