Saturday 7th May Lunchtime Service

[0:00] here and there'll be a garrett sam to begin with but the service will be the majority of it in english over the course of the next day the evening there'll be a prayer meeting at six o'clock this evening and that will be led by the elders faraker will be leading that prayer meeting this evening all are warmly invited to go to that and then at half past seven tonight there'll be an informal fellowship and that will be led by uh cameron and ian and again a warm welcome is extended to all to attend that there'll be a time of fellowship and tea and coffee and uh to enjoy as well tomorrow the services as the usual times on the lord's day both services bilingual and 11 o'clock will be the morning service and 6 p.m in the evening uh and i see mcdonald will be the morning service and john murdo will take the evening service and there'll be a fellowship after the evening service where the ministers will be sharing a word of testament so again all are warmly invited to these services i will now hand over to the reverend john murdo and we pray that god will bless him and speak through him as he has been doing over these last few days thank you david thank you again it's good to be with you and uh thank you for your kind invitation to share this weekend with you and we pray again for god's blessing uh as we gather to worship and to pray soon we begin by singing uh in psalm 51 in gaelic toshik shenir varek with shayn to her crew here on the house and then the salajiyah kadish and ayikid psalm 51 and we'll sing three verses from the beginning of the psalm three verses from the beginning of psalm 51 and after we sing the psalm i'd like to ask john mxwin if he would lead us in prayer in gaelic psalm 51 '' he can 700 go to parts my life Jeb Osal we have to save the 1st мужчiner thismal de Gред so ok

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[14:28] So place in Christ. Pauls — and Christ. you also heard me.

[14:40] How many others Christ Christ Christ as decoys before Joseph, before he fond of it, completely here in heaven today, a little power to give God the value of and if battle.

[15:28] We will continue to praise God by singing in Mission Place number 458.

[15:42] Mission Place 458. Mission Place 458.

[16:15] Mission Place 458.

[16:46] He said to the woman, did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden? The woman said to the serpent we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden but God did say you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden and you must not touch it or you will die.

[17:07] You will not surely die the serpent said to the woman for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil.

[17:19] When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom she took some and ate it.

[17:31] She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized that they were naked so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

[17:46] Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man where are you?

[18:02] He answered I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked so I hid. And he said Who told you that you were naked?

[18:13] Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat? The man said The woman you gave me you want you put here with me she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.

[18:26] Then the Lord God said to the woman What is this you have done? The woman said The serpent deceived me and I ate. So the Lord God said to the serpent Because you have done this crush it adieu among all the livestock and all the wild animals you will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

[18:48] And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her he will crush your head and he will strike his heel.

[18:59] And then in the New Testament in Matthew's Gospel and in chapter 4 And again we'll read from the beginning of the chapter down to verse 11 Matthew 4 reading from the beginning Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil After fasting for forty days and forty nights he was hungry The tempter came to him and said If you are the Son of God tell these stones to become bread Jesus answered It is written Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple If you are the Son of God He said Throw yourself down For it is written He will command his angels concerning and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your fruit against the stone

[20:06] Jesus answered him It is also written Do not put the Lord your God to the test Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor All this I will give you He said If you will bow down and worship me Jesus said to him Away from me Satan For it is written Worship the Lord your God and serve him only Then the devil left him and angels came and attended him And then finally we turn to Matthew's Gospel and chapter 14 And we read from verse 17 down to 26 Matthew's Gospel chapter 14 verse 17 When evening came

[21:07] Jesus arrived at the table While they were reclining at the table eating He said I tell you the truth One of you will betray me One who is eating with me They were saddened And one by one they said to him Surely not I It is one of the twelve He replied One who dips bread into the bowl with me The Son of Man will go Just as it is written about him And woe to that man Who betrays the Son of Man It will be better for him If he had not been born While they were eating Jesus took bread Gave thanks and broke it And gave it to his disciples Saying Take it This is my body Then he took the cup Gave thanks And offered it to them And they all drank from it This is my blood of the covenant Which is poured out for many He said to them I tell you the truth I will not drink again Of the fruit of the vine

[22:08] Until that day When I drank it anew In the kingdom of God When they had saw the hymn They went out To the mouth of Olus Amen And we pray that God Would bless the reading Of this word Also that would open This word up to it And speak to us At the very point Of our need As we look at it shortly Now let's again sing And this time from The Red Hymnbook Hymn number 339 Hymn 339 O breath of life Come sweeping through us Revive thy church With life and power O breath of life Come cleanse Renew us And fit thy church To meet This I revive us Lord This seal abating

[23:09] While harvest fields Are vast and white Revive us Lord The world is waiting Equip thy church To spread The light Let's sing This hymn to God's praise O breath of life Come sweet Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen is thy church to meet this song.

[24:15] O wind of thought, commend us, break us, till humbly reconfess the name.

[24:32] Let in thy tenderness create us, divine resource, heartless be thee.

[24:52] O breath of love, come, breathe through man, renewing thought and will.

[25:10] O love of Christ, a flesh to rest, revive thy church in every heart.

[25:27] Revive us, Lord, is the ungrateful, while harvest fields are vast and wide.

[25:45] Revive us, Lord, the Lord is great, deep with thy church to spread the light.

[26:03] Let's just pray before we turn into the Lord. O breath of life, come, sweep through us.

[26:17] Revive thy church with life and power. O breath of life, come, cleanse through us, and fit thy church to meet this song.

[26:28] Holy Spirit, we come now in prayer, asking that you would come and take this service. And Lord, that you would take the word, the living word of the living God, and apply it now to our hearts.

[26:44] Lord, we do not want to hear the voice or the opinions of any human being. We need to hear the voice of the living God speaking to us.

[26:56] The word that will indeed bend us and break us and remake us, as our need dictates this morning. Lord, you know each heart that is gathered here today.

[27:08] You know our needs better than we know them ourselves. And our prayer is that you would speak through your word to each heart. That you would bless us and challenge us and guide us and feed us.

[27:22] In Jesus' name. Amen. Well, at the service last night, we looked at an invitation. I did a lot of talk about invitations this weekend.

[27:37] Thank you again for your kind invitation. I'd like to be with you this weekend. And we looked at an invitation to our banquet. We looked at the invitation of Jesus to come to him.

[27:49] Today, actually, I want to look at three invitations. While I understand it's getting better on his points or getting fewer, I seem to be getting worse. I have more points, not less.

[28:01] So I want to look at three invitations. But there are three invitations that have the deepest significance for each one of us here today. In fact, they have eternal consequences for everyone who's not.

[28:18] And in a way, these invitations put in context what we're doing here this weekend. And we find the invitations in the three passages that we read together just now in Genesis and in Matthew and in Mark.

[28:32] And first of all, in Genesis, there is what I want to call an invitation accepted. And then in Matthew, there is an invitation declined.

[28:46] And in Matthew, an invitation extended. Three invitations that can focus our hearts and minds on the purpose of our gathering, not just today, but for this whole weekend.

[28:59] So first of all, in the passage in Genesis chapter 3, we have an invitation accepted. When the devil tempts Adam and Eve to disobey God and when he invites them to eat of the fruit that God had forbidden, they accept his invitation and they eat.

[29:22] And the consequences of their actions were and still are disastrous. Not just for them, but for the whole of humanity.

[29:32] We have all been deeply touched by that invitation that was accepted by the disobedience of Adam and of Eve. Because Adam was our representative.

[29:44] He was the person with whom God, at the very beginning, made a covenant, a promise, and a pledge on behalf of us all. The shorter catechism calls it a covenant of life upon condition of perfect obedience.

[30:00] In other words, God made a promise to all of us through Adam that we should live forever in his presence and under his blessings and love if we acknowledge and honour and obey him and love him as our God.

[30:13] And Adam was our representative in that covenant. He was the first human being made in God's image. And he represented you and me in this covenant relationship with God.

[30:27] And then God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the earth. He put him in charge of the world that he had created. And all that was in it. One commentator says, they were his vice regents.

[30:42] Vice regents. He was representative. Vice regents in charge of what God had created. And we see that in chapter 1 and verse 26.

[30:55] Let us make man in our image and our likeness. Let him rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground.

[31:06] But in accepting this invitation from the devil to eat this fruit, Adam disobeyed God. And he failed in his role as covenant head.

[31:17] He decided to please himself rather than to please God and obey God. And what the Bible tells us is that Adam and all who would come after him, all those he represented in this covenant, including you and I, fell out of the perfect and loving relationship which God desired to have with humanity.

[31:38] And humanity became separated from his love and protection. And because of Adam's failure in accepting this invitation, his failure as covenant head, we have all become separated from God by sin.

[31:55] Now, the huge question is why did this happen? Why was sin allowed to enter into a perfect creation? And that is a huge and a very real mystery.

[32:06] We don't know why it was allowed to happen, why it happened, but we can clearly see in Genesis chapter 3 how it happened. And we look at the passage we read in verses 4 and 5, the devil tempts Eve with the words, you will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God.

[32:34] Here is a great temptation that lies behind this invitation to eat. What the devil is saying here is eat of this fruit and you will not just be God's vice-regents or representatives, you will be God's yourselves.

[32:50] God is keeping you down, and God is stopping you from achieving your full potential. You too can be God's if you just eat of this fruit.

[33:02] What a cheat, God making you his vice-regents, his weapon. You can be God's, you don't need to be mere representatives of God. Eat this, and you will be God's.

[33:14] You will be in control of your own destiny. You will be in control, not God. And in this verse, really, we have what is at the essence, which is the heart of sin.

[33:27] You will be like God. Sin, ultimately, is our desire to be God in our own lives, to be in control of our own lives, to rebel against God, to do our own thing. That is the essence of sin.

[33:39] It is human pride. Someone once said, sin always has eye at the center. And that is true. That is the essence of sin. We can see that. We can see that displayed in our own world.

[33:52] We know best, and not God. We will be in control. For Adam and Eve, this temptation to be God's was too great.

[34:03] The invitation to eat was just too attractive. And the disobeyed God and humanity fell into a place where it is now separated from God by sin and disobedient.

[34:16] From being God's representatives in his creation to becoming his enemies, rebels against God's rule. Our relationship with God has been broken and it has resulted in a brokenness that affects our whole humanity.

[34:34] It has spiritual and physical and emotional and psychological and social and political consequences in every area of our humanity. And we can see it clearly, see that.

[34:48] The Bible tells us that we have inherited this condition from Adam who was a representative in his covenant with God. Sin has been transmitted down through the generations.

[35:01] We know that as we look out upon our world, we look at the behaviour of society and we see it becoming increasingly godless. We watch our television screens, we read our newspapers and we see more and more godless behaviour.

[35:17] Even legislation that now is coming into place in our own nation is very clear against God. James Montgomery Boyce in his commentary on this chapter, Genesis chapter 3, heads the chapter of what a mess.

[35:36] What a mess. And it's true, isn't it? As we look around us, what a mess. And it's getting worse.

[35:50] But the Bible tells us that in the last days there will be terrible times. This is no surprise to God, can I just say, there's no surprise in heaven over what's happening.

[36:04] God has not been taken aback or surprised by what's happening. If we read God's word, we see clearly that what God says is that it's going to get worse. And that shows us that God's word is true.

[36:18] It shows us that God is true to his word and that his word is the only thing that we can trust and depend on in the light of this mess that we see.

[36:30] But you see, it's okay to look out and see what a mess. We also need to look inside. We also need to look in our hearts and declare that a mess too.

[36:44] Because as we, if we're honest, as we look into our hearts, they condemn us. And our actions often display our sinfulness and separate us from God.

[36:56] And in this regard, we are certainly guilty by association with Adam. He was our representative. And we are guilty with him not just by association, but by action, by thought and word and deed.

[37:11] And if we're honest with our own hearts, as I said, they condemn us and they show our link and their association with Adam. Quite fascinated with what happens when a little baby is born.

[37:31] You'll see people gathering around the child and I think without being sexist, particularly the ladies will look and say, oh, look at that. He's got his mother's nose and his father's ears and all the nice stuff and all of this and everything.

[37:46] And it's lovely to see. But that's true. You look at photos, you look through the family album and you see, you look at maybe your great-grandfather or someone and you see, I think, and as Ian was saying the other night, he looks to the mirror and he says, what's my father doing with it?

[38:02] And we have that family resemblance, that physical resemblance. But the Bible tells us that we have also inherited spiritual characteristics, behaviors and attitudes that are sinful, hearts that display what David says in the psalm that we sung in Gaelic, sinful I was at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

[38:27] It's crucial to see and understand as I'm not so sure that the church is as focused on or as knowledgeable about the doctrine of original sin as possibly it should be.

[38:39] But the Bible clearly teaches us that we are not born as black sheets of paper upon which our lives are written. We are born with a spiritual inheritance from Adam which leaves us with sinful attitudes even when we are born.

[38:56] In other words, we are not sinners because we sin. We are not sinners because we do sinful things. We sin.

[39:07] We do sinful things because at heart we are sinners. And it's crucial to see that. And that's how we must approach the communion table of the Lord's Day tomorrow.

[39:19] As people who understand and accept that we are sinners, that we are associated with, not just by association but by actions, Adam.

[39:31] And that we are separated from God by our sin. And to realize and accept that our need most of all is to be reconciled to God and to know his forgiveness.

[39:49] Now it's important to understand that Genesis chapter 3 is not a complete disaster. we must understand that this passage doesn't show that God has lost control of this world but rather that we as representatives have.

[40:04] Although we have messed up badly and have thereby lost this control over the world that God has entrusted to us, it's important to understand that God did not lose control of his world.

[40:18] The first Adam had certainly failed and had fallen from his place as God's representative and the devil had wrested control of the world out of Adam's hands but he hadn't wrested it out of God's hands.

[40:34] God hasn't lost control of this world and God hasn't given up on this world and we see that in the very last verse we read in Genesis chapter 3. I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers he will crush his head and you will strike his healed.

[40:54] Commentators say that this is actively the very first mention of Christ in scripture. I believe John Calvin said that. Here is a promise from God to send someone who will crush the second.

[41:10] The very first promise of God to send a saviour. Promises that the Old Testament scripture are full of. The first Adam had failed in his role as covenant head.

[41:22] He had disobeyed God and he along with the rest of humanity had fallen into a state of sin. But we are going to see that God had other plans for the redemption of humanity and in his hymn prays to the holiest in the height.

[41:36] John Newman writes O loving wisdom of our God when all was sin and shame a second Adam to the fight and to the rescue came.

[41:49] Jesus the second Adam came to the rescue when all was sin and shame. And in Matthew chapter 4 that second passage that we read we have a look at that passage just now and we go from an invitation accepted to an invitation declined.

[42:10] an invitation declined. And we see here the temptation of Christ and this incident has more significance for us than is obvious at first glance.

[42:25] It's not just here a lesson of how to deal with temptation although it is in one sense it is that. It is imperative for us to understand that when we are tempted to do wrong we have to trust in God's word.

[42:42] We need to return again and again and again to God's word. And we too need to respond to the devil's temptations with the words it is written. It is written.

[42:54] It is written. When we are tempted to do wrong Jesus rather when he was tempted to do wrong Jesus he didn't respond with various moral or philosophical arguments to the devil he responded with God's word.

[43:06] it is written. And so must we. If we keep our focus on and obey God's word we shall be protected from falling into temptation. And again I want to encourage you in your own situation as a congregation and I know through my own personal experience I know that the last while has not been easy for you and I know there will be difficulties and there will be hurts and you will bear bruises and you will bear them for some time but you have stood on the word of God and God will honour you for doing that no matter how difficult or how hard the going will get I promise you that God will honour the stand that you've taken because you're not standing in your own strength you're standing in the strength of Christ and you're not standing on your own opinions you're standing on the word of God and that can never fail but there is much more to this passage than just advice on how to deal with temptation a huge battle is being fought out here a huge issue is being resolved because if we go back to

[44:20] Genesis chapter 3 remember how the devil had tripped up the first Adam remember how he had got Adam and Eve to fall and disobey God well he had done it by appealing to their pride you will be gods God is keeping you down merely God's representatives you deserve more than that you need to be gods so he tempted them and they fell through an appeal to pride and to their own exaltation he appealed to their pride basically and you see that's exactly what the devil is trying to do here he's tripped up the first Adam by an appeal to pride and he's trying to do exactly the same thing with Christ and they're trying to get Jesus to turn stones into bread and trying to get him to bow down and trying to get him tempted with all the riches and the nations of the world he's appealing to

[45:31] Christ he's trying to divert Christ from his course from his responsibilities as the second Adam and his responsibilities in being faithful and obedient to God he's trying to put Jesus off course but you see the devil has completely misunderstood the mission of the second Adam he tries to tempt him by appealing to a sense of power and self exaltation in the same way as he had with the first Adam and it's a similar attack isn't it fascinating to see that it's enough to go show me the nations showing Jesus the nations of the world and say all these I will give you if you just worship me but with the second Adam here it doesn't work why doesn't it work well because the second Adam is not focused upon power and self exaltation like the first Adam rather he is focused on humbling himself under

[46:39] God's hand he is focused on humbling himself and being obedient to God even to death and death on the cross Philippians chapter 2 tells us that humility is at the very heart of the mission of Jesus Christ he humbled himself and became obedient to death even day on the cross you see the mission of the second Adam was not to exalt himself but to humble himself and thereby to exalt us you and I Jesus as the second Adam was not going to save the world by exalting himself by military power as some of the Jews thought of political power he was not going to save the world by taking the world by storm by exalting himself and becoming powerful he was coming to save the world by dying for the world on the cross because this was the father's plan for our salvation and

[47:44] Jesus was committed to it in obedience oh why is this love that flesh and blood which did in Adam fail should strive afresh against the foe should strive and should prevail but he was going to prevail not through exalting himself but through his death on the cross and the devil didn't understand that and his appeal to power and prestige did not what with the second Adam you see again Jesus is not just the second Adam he's the last Adam that's what 1 Corinthians chapter 15 calls him he's the last Adam why is he called the last Adam well he's the last Adam in the sense that there is no further representative needed of humanity he has done all that is necessary for our salvation his death and resurrection are sufficient although something comes to mind and maybe I'll speak about this in a second but his death and resurrection that we gather to remember especially his death are sufficient lifted up was he to die it is finished was his cry nothing further is needed except for us to trust and believe him and believe in him because Jesus has succeeded where the first Adam failed and it is through him today that we come to this third invitation that we have in the third passage that we read in Mark's gospel in chapter 14 while they were eating

[49:39] Jesus took bread gave thanks and broke it and gave it his disciples say take it this is my body an invitation offered an invitation extended offered in the bread and the wine that we shall eat and drink off tomorrow God willing take eat this is my body which is broken for you and here we have an invitation from Christ to identify ourselves with him to identify ourselves with the last Adam and to trust in him and to turn away from all these things that associate us with the first Adam all of these things that our hearts reveal as we examine our own hearts today as we prepare ourselves to come tomorrow to the Lord's table all our sinfulness all our willfulness all of our disciples God and we are invited through this invitation that is extended to us to come and put our trust in Christ

[50:42] Jesus has come to be the representative head of our redeemed people and he's done so not by doing his own thing but by submitting to God's will and being obedient even to death death on a cross to pay for our sins and that's where our hope lies today that's where all our hope is that's the reason for our gathering however much we may feel that maybe today we have let Jesus down and we do and I certainly do he asks us to repent he asks us to turn away even today from all these things that associates us with the first Adam and come to him the last Adam and he promises he will never cast out anyone who comes to him and here in the hope is the hope in the face of all our feelings and faults and sins here is the invitation from Christ to come and drink and come and drink in the symbols of the Lord's supper take eat this is my body my body broken to you the body of Christ the bread that signifies a broken body the sinless suffering the suffering servant of

[51:55] Isaiah Jesus lived in a body human flesh yet without sin a sinless sacrifice because the sinless saviour died my sinful soul is counted free for God the just is satisfied to look on him and pardon me and then the cup this cup is my blood which is shed for your sins the cup is a picture of the sacrifice bearing shame and scoffing root in my place could then be sealed my pardon with his blood hallelujah for a saviour cup speaks also forgiveness without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins and I make this need way above everything else as we've said is God's forgiveness so here is this invitation extended to us today by Jesus which we will fulfil and come together to the table tomorrow the broken body and the shed blood the symbols of a covenant

[53:07] God that he makes with all who will believe in Christ and this is a time for us if we are in Christ is to renew a commitment to Jesus we must come round this table in reverence and thankfulness humility and even with a real sense of awe and amazement but while we were still helpless at the right time Christ died for the ungodly God demonstrates his own love for us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us and as we prepare to come to the Lord's table tomorrow we need to identify again and see our association with the first Adam we need to understand that we are sinners who need a saviour we need to understand that we through Adam's disobedience and our own too have fallen from the place where God placed us at creation we are separated by our sins and we need to see our deepest need of a sacrificial atoning work of the last

[54:13] Adam of Christ who has in his sinless body paid the price for our redemption to restore us to the place where we should be where we have fallen from he humbled himself in order that God may exalt us as God's children we are representatives of God the church of Jesus Christ and we come tomorrow focused on him and on him alone and with eternal gratitude we pour out our hearts in praise and worship and adoration as we gather tomorrow to praise him who loved us and gave himself upon us and maybe today there are people here who have not come to this place who may sit behind the table tomorrow or wherever who have not as yet come to Christ and received him as our saviour and Lord you see we've just really listened to a theme of two Adams and we need today and every day to identify ourselves with one or the other there is no in between there is no third Adam there is no halfway house we either associate ourselves with the first Adam and with his disobedience and with his sinfulness or we come under the shelter of the atoning one of the last Adam there is no halfway house as I say and if we continue to associate ourselves with the first

[55:46] Adam then what we are doing is rejecting God and rebelling against God and God will reject us but if today you understand that you cannot save yourself by your own efforts if you have come to that place even though you may not yet have come to Christ in a full and living relationship if you have come to the place where you acknowledge that you are a sinner who needs a saviour that again Christ waits for you Christ waits for you again I spoke last night about Spurgeon and how the old elder just had run out of words to say after ten minutes and all he could say was look to Jesus young man look to Jesus and that's all that we can do but that's all that we need to do if you're sitting here today and you're thinking

[56:48] I must get myself better I must do something to make myself more acceptable to God you can't I tried that for a long time you can't do it it can't be done look to Jesus look to Jesus come at his invitation I said there's more that through his death and resurrection that the world is complete well actually that's not exactly true or totally true last Thursday was Ascension Sunday Thursday Ascension Day the day that Jesus ascended to heaven and I think there's a really important part of our salvation which maybe we don't focus on and if you read a couple of verses from Hebrews chapter 9 we see there an amazing and a wonderful picture and it speaks about the blood of Christ and in verse 12 it says he did not enter that is heaven he did not enter by means of the blood of goats and cows but he entered the most high place once for all by his own blood having obtained eternal redemption and then in verse 24 for Christ did not enter a man made sanctity that was only a copy of the true one he entered heaven itself now to appear for us in God's presence and there is a picture there of Christ ascending to glory and coming into heaven into the presence of the father as it says there by means of his own blood and as he stands before the father with the marks of the cross in his hands and his feet and his side and his pride and he says my father

[58:55] I have died for them and God the father accepts thy sacrifice and as it says in psalm I think 110 the lord says to you sit thou at my right hand Christ sits at the right hand of God in heaven and we are going to sing in a minute before the throne of God above I have a pure perfect plea great high priest whose name is loud whoever lives and pleads for me my name is written on his hands my name is written on his hands my name is written on his heart as in heaven stands no tongue and bid me first part David has asked me to the session will be open after the service to receive anyone who wants to come and profess their name in Christ

[60:05] Jesus Christ and it's wonderful and it's wonderful that the session is open is that heaven is open and that in heaven there is one who prays for you if you this morning I'm sitting here wondering whether you can come and make a witness and testify to your faith in Christ and profess faith in him Jesus Christ is praying for you in heaven and take courage from that and don't let anything stop you from coming if today you hear my voice do not harden your heart please do not harden your heart if Christ is speaking to you the session is open because heaven is open and in heaven we have a saviour who prays for us at God's right hand and his blood has been accepted there is nothing you and I can do because God the Father has received his son back to heaven and has accepted the blood of Christ and the marks of the cross as someone said the only man made thing in heaven at the wounds of

[61:15] Christ's body don't let anyone or anything keep your way today if Christ is speaking to you I just want to finish now with a poem that I found I can't even remember if I've written if I've read this here before I may well have done it doesn't matter it's a poem that's an anonymous poem I don't know who read this but the question I would ask before I read it is where are we looking today for our salvation who are we looking to for our salvation are we looking to ourselves and to what we can do or have we totally and utterly come to the conclusion that there is nothing we can do and are we looking to Jesus look to Jesus young man so you all remember here's the point I look not back God knows the fruitless efforts the wasted hours the sinning and regrets

[62:17] I leave them all with him who blocks the record and graciously forgives and then forgets I look not forward God sees all the future the road that short or long will lead me home and he will face with me its every trial and bear for me the burden that may come I look not round me then would fear overwhelm me so while the tumult of life's restless seas so that the world so filled with war and evil so vain the hope of comfort and of ease I look not inward that would make me wretched but I have not on which to place my trust nothing I see but failures and shortcomings and weak endeavours crumbling into dust but I look up into the face of

[63:18] Jesus for there my heart can rest my fears are still and there is joy and love and light for darkness and perfect peace and every hope fulfilled come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest take eat this this is my body which is broken for you this cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood if we would just come Jesus himself will lift the cup to our lips tomorrow as we come in repentance and in faith let's pray Lord

[64:20] Jesus Christ we bow before you this afternoon in awe and in amazement that the King of Heaven would humble himself in order to exalt us that you would come and walk this world live our lives and die our deaths in order that we can be set free from sin in order that we can be called the children of God Lord Jesus we rejoice in your presence this morning we give thanks that you have set us free if the Son sets you free you will be free indeed I have come that you may have life and have it to the floor thank you Lord Jesus we come in the light not of our own worthiness but in the light of your invitation this is my body which is broken for you

[65:21] Lord Jesus we come in repentance and in faith acknowledging our association with the first pattern as we look upon our hearts and lives and yet lifting our eyes to you and looking into the face of him who loved us and gave himself for us where our hearts can rest where our fears are stilled where there is joy and love and life for darkness and perfect peace and every home fulfilled Amen let's sing mission praise 975 mission praise 975 before the throne of god above i have a pure perfect free a great high priest whose name is love who ever lives and pleads for me my name is graven on his hands my name is written on his heart i know that by when heaven he stands no tongue can bid me thanks and now may grace and mercy and peace from almighty god father son and holy spirit one god rest upon us and remain with us now and evermore amen