[0:00] Good morning. A warm welcome to the service this morning. It's good to see a number of visitors with us as well. A lot of our people are away and it's good to have people visiting with us over the October holidays. So a warm welcome to the service. If you're able to stay behind for tea and coffee, you're very welcome to do so. It'd be good to get the chance to meet and to enjoy fellowship together. The intimations, the notices have been on the screen. I'm just going to take a second and skip through them because I haven't seen all of them myself. So the creche continues during the service time for those who have little ones. I don't know if there's any in here today, but there's a creche just through in the back. So be praying for the wee ones. Service tonight at six.
[0:44] I'll be taken by myself. Ladies' Fellowship on Monday. Little Fishers on Tuesday morning. Road to Recovery on Tuesday night. I'll see you in the school after the holidays.
[0:57] The prayer meeting will be held in person and on Zoom Wednesday at half past seven. And I'll be taking that prayer meeting myself, God willing. And I hope to go on holiday on Thursday.
[1:11] So I'll take the prayer meeting on Wednesday night and head off on holiday on Thursday for one week. In the time that I'm away, if there's any pastoral emergencies, Thomas Davis is at the end of the phone and is available.
[1:25] You can speak to one of the elders in the first instance. Next Sunday, the service will be taken by Kenny I in the morning and the evening. And the prayer meeting on weekend Wednesday will be taken by Cammie.
[1:37] And I think these are probably all the intimations that I have to work through. Other than to say that at the door, you'll see a box just on the wee table.
[1:53] Underneath the table is a wee box on the way out of the church. And we're still gathering for the Blytheswood shoeboxes. So I've been asked just to remind you that we're still taking items for the shoeboxes.
[2:06] So please continue to give if you're able. These, I think, are all the notices. So let's worship God and we'll sing to his praise. We'll sing from Sing Psalms number 23.
[2:21] Sing Psalms 23. The Lord is my shepherd, no want shall I know. And the tune for this one is a familiar tune. It's the tune Jehovah, the tune that we sing Jehovah's in Kenya to.
[2:32] So we'll stand to sing to God's praise. We can play this one, Adam. Thanks. The Lord is my shepherd, no want shall I know.
[3:03] He makes me like unaware that he prostitutes old. He leads me to rest where the calm waters go.
[3:19] He leads me to rest where the calm waters go. By wandering steps he brings back to his way.
[3:35] He leads me to rest where the calm waters go.
[4:05] Where darkness is near. Because you are with me, no evil appears.
[4:18] You're odd and you're stopping, meek of words and cheer. You're odd and you're stopping, meek of words and cheer.
[4:33] NINGNING I'm preciously fed Oh, surely your covenant For mercy and grace Will follow me closely In all of my ways I will tell in the hands of The Lord of my days And I will tell in the hands of
[5:38] The Lord of my days Let's unite our hearts in prayer together. Let's pray.
[5:58] Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this, your day, This gift that has been given to us Where we're able to come apart from all the duties of the normal days of the week And take time to be still And to be in your presence And we pray that as we come That we would come with a sense of expectation That as we open your word That we would expect to hear you speak to us That as we pray that you would believe That we would believe that you are hearing And that you will answer our prayers As you have answered our prayers so many times In the past. We pray that we would Have that sense Of your presence with us You promised that you are here with us And we pray that we would know And that we would experience something of God the Holy Spirit Moving within us And around us in this building And we ask Lord that you would be at work In this place And that you would help us to see Jesus The author, the perfecter Of our faith
[6:58] The one Who is the Lord, our shepherd The one who is our saviour And we thank you Lord Jesus For all that you have done To make it possible for us to be saved We thank you that you laid down your life You came to this world knowing That you would be despised and rejected That you would be a man of sorrows Acquainted with grief And yet we thank you that you You took the sorrow, the grief That our sin caused That you went to the cross That you laid down your life To take the punishment for our sin And we thank you that as we believe In you We are saved So we ask Lord That we would be able to say Each one of us The Lord is my shepherd We know that he is the good shepherd But we pray that each one of us Would know him personally and savingly As the Lord, my shepherd We ask Father that you would bless us
[8:01] As we look to Christ That we would know The assurance that our sins are forgiven As we confess them And we take a moment even now To confess our sin once more We sin in our thoughts In our words The things that we say And we ask Lord that you would cleanse us In the blood of Christ The blood that was shed At the cross And that you would give to us The assurance That we are forgiven That you would give to us once more The joy of your salvation of us And that you would give to us The sense of joy That we receive As we remember That Jesus not only died for our sin But he rose from the dead On this day The Lord's day And that we are promised That we will share In that resurrection life As we believe in him We thank you That that is good news For our souls And that that gives to us comfort
[9:03] We pray for all Today who are in need Of such comfort For those whose hearts Are sore For those who are grieving We ask Lord That you would draw near to them We pray That you would comfort them That they would feel and know The compassion of God And even as we Have experienced so much Of death in past weeks We pray that the The gospel hope That is found in Christ Would break in To our hearts And to this community That many more people Would look to Jesus The one who said I am the resurrection And the life And the one Who believes in me Shall live Even though he die He shall live We pray that you would Be with those Who are anxious today There are always things In this world That trouble us Burdens and cares In danger of
[10:03] Of dragging us down In danger of Of choking faith But we pray that we would Take our Our cares and anxieties To the Lord We thank you for the verse We were instructed To do that That we are to be anxious About nothing But to pray about everything So hear us as we pray And even as we take A moment just now In the silence To think about All the things That burden us And all the things That trouble us Loved ones who are sick Those who may Have received Even bad news This week We take a moment And we name them In the silence We carry them To you in prayer And ask Lord That you would help them And that you would help us In our struggles We thank you That you are our refuge And that you are our strength And we pray that In the stillness Of this hour That we would know That you are God
[11:03] And that you are with us Continue with us We pray And fix our eyes Upon Jesus And we ask these things In Jesus name Amen Boys and girls Would you like to come out Please I think there is more Confidence every week With some of these ones Which I think Is a good thing Boys and girls I have got a couple of things To show you today Before we do that Actually Do you ever get presents Have you ever been given A present A gift Yeah And do you like getting gifts Have you ever got a gift And thought You've ended up saying Thank you very much As you've unwrapped it And then you've thought What is this Two things
[12:05] That I got As I got given to me And I'm going to show you them And you're going to tell me What you think they are Or what they're to be used for What you're to use them for This is one thing I'll show that to the people Over this way as well Have you ever seen one of them before No Do you want to come and have a closer look And have a guess See what you think it might be No Any ideas A mini Hoover Not a Hoover Not a Hoover Not a Hoover Not a Sharpener Not a Sharpener Not a Sharpener Benjamin You come over here every second Right I'll show you what this is for See See when you're wearing a really jumper And you know it gets a bit bobbly When you get all the wee bobbles Well
[13:05] When you get bobbles in your really jumper You get this thing You turn it on Do that And it takes all the bobbles off your jumper And then If you don't have time to go to a haircut You just put it on your hair Just for taking the bobbles off your jumper So I got given this one day And I thought Thank you very much And I thought What on earth is this But that's what it's for Taking the bobbles off your jumper The next thing to show you Last thing I got given this When I was 50 For my last birthday From the girls Anna and Grace and Lois They gave me this Big box Big thing like that And I thought I think they've got me A big new Bible That'll be good And I was looking at it And then I started shaking the box It doesn't sound like a Bible
[14:05] And I was thinking What is it a commentary Maybe it's just a box full of money Hundreds of thousands of pounds Then I opened it I thought Is it a drill But where's the drill bit And then there was all these bits You stick on the end of it It's a massage gun So So Shani I'm surprised to know That you've also got one of these In your house I thought no one else In the history of time Had bought one of these So Shani What is it A massage gun So how do you work it There's a button It goes Right so If anybody's feeling stressed Are you feeling stressed Shani Up you come So you put that
[15:06] You put that on And then you push the button There you go Get all that stress out So Sunday school teachers Will have no trouble From you today So anyway Thank you Anybody wants a massage Just help yourself afterwards I don't know what that says About what the girls think of me But Two gifts And I said thank you And they were good gifts But I just didn't really know What to do with them at first What day is it?
[15:46] Sunday Sunday That's one name for it It's another name for today It's a day that belongs to somebody It's the It's the Lord's day It's God's day This is a day that's Special isn't it?
[16:08] And You know that God Right at the very beginning Of time He gave us this day And he He gave it to us As a gift So when you wake up On a Sunday morning You can Open your eyes And say Thank you God for today You can do that every day But on Sunday especially You can say Thank you very much For today Because this is a gift But we might be A bit like me With These gifts here Thinking What's it for?
[16:43] What do we What should we use Sunday for? Should we use Sunday for Catching up On all the homework That we couldn't be bothered Doing in the week? What do you think?
[16:55] No Should we use God's day for Tidying the house From top to bottom? No Should we use God's day for Twelve hours of gaming?
[17:14] No So what do you think We should use God's day for? What do you think He gave it to us for? Finley For praying For praying So when we're praying We can speak to God And he's given us This day Where we've got All this time And we can speak To God In prayer What else can we do?
[17:38] Finley Read the Bible We can read the Bible And when we read the Bible God is speaking to us And so when we're Reading the Bible And when we're praying And when we come to church Like this We're spending time With God And with His people And that's what Sunday's for It's a day Where We can stop work There's some jobs That we have to carry on doing You know There are People in hospital You have to care for people All through the week There are people in hotels You have to You have to give people food If they're on their holidays They're going to starve There's some jobs That have to carry on going But Ministers Have to do something On a Sunday But This is a day Where all our normal stuff That we don't have to do God says Don't do it Take a rest Our bodies need a rest And we need time
[18:39] To be with God And just to enjoy Being with Him So This is a gift The Lord's day And it's for Taking time To be with God So let's pray And thank Him for today Lord God We do thank you for today That this is your day And we pray that you would help us Not to waste it But to take time To To spend With you in it And as Finley was saying We pray that we would Speak to you As we pray We ask that You would help us To listen To what you have to say to us As we read the Bible As we hear Sunday school stories And as we Come to church And As we Go to Sunday school We ask Lord That you would open our ears That we would hear What you have to say to us And we pray that we would Just take time To rest And to be in your presence We thank you that the Bible says That those who Who wait in the Lord
[19:40] Will renew their strength And we pray that today Our strength would be Renewed As we Wait In your presence And we ask all this In Jesus name Amen We're going to sing now And we're going to sing Mission Praise 1164 Come O Fount of Every Blessing Come O Fount of Every Blessing To my heart to sing your praise Cheers of mercy Ever ceasing For the songs of loudest praise Stones of God's abundant treasure Stung by angels And above Stones that tell the Boundless measure
[20:41] Of my Lord's unchanging love I remember God's good mercy By his help I've saved me come And I know He will not fail me But will surely Bring me home Jesus taught me When a stranger Wandering far away From God And to rescue me From danger Share for me His precious blood Through Lord's grace I am his better Daily I This thought In you Let thy grace For like a feather
[21:41] And my longing heart To you Go to wonder Lord I feel it Go to lead the Lord I love Take my heart Oh take and seal it Seal it from you Courts of heart Okay boys and girls If you had to Sunday school And anyone who's a visitor Who's in primary school Is welcome to go to Sunday school also Remember to pray for them as they go And we can turn now in our Bibles To Matthew chapter 11 Matthew chapter 11
[22:43] And we'll read from verse 25 Through into chapter 12 Verse 14 This is God's word At that time Jesus declared I thank you Father Lord of heaven and earth That you have hidden These things From the wise These things of salvation You've hidden These things From the wise And understanding And revealed them To little children Yes Father For such Was your gracious will All things Have been handed over To me By my father And no one knows the son Except the father And no one knows the father Except the son And anyone to whom the son Chooses to reveal him Come to me All who labor And are heavy laden Jesus is speaking He says Come to me All who labor And are heavy laden And I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you And learn from me For I am gentle And lowly in heart
[23:44] And you will find rest For your souls For my yoke is easy And my burden Is light At that time Jesus went through The grain fields On the Sabbath His disciples were hungry And they began To pluck heads of grain And to eat it But when the Pharisees Saw it They said to him Look Your disciples are doing What is not lawful To do on the Sabbath He said to them Have you not read What David did When he was hungry And those who were with him How he entered The house of God And ate the bread Of the presence Which it was not lawful For him to eat Nor for those Who were with him But only for the priests Or have you not read In the law How Have you not read In the law How on the Sabbath The priests in the temple Profane the Sabbath And are guiltless I tell you Something greater Than the temple Is here And if you had known What this means I desire mercy And not sacrifice You would have not Condemned the guiltless
[24:45] For the Son of Man Is Lord of the Sabbath He went on from there And entered their synagogue And a man was there With a withered hand And they asked him Is it lawful To heal on the Sabbath So that they might accuse him He said to them Which one of you Who has a sheep If it falls into a pit On the Sabbath Will not take it Take hold of it And lift it out Of how much more value Is a man than a sheep So it is lawful To do good on the Sabbath Then he said to the man Stretch out your hand And the man stretched it out And it was restored Healthy Like the other But the Pharisees went out And conspired against him How to destroy him Amen And may God bless that Berea of his word To us We'll sing again To God's praise This time we'll sing In Gaelic Psalm 40 Psalm 40 Verses 1 And 2 Well the first two stanzas
[25:46] Of the psalm Psalm 40 And the first two stanzas Of the psalm We'll sing in Gaelic And remain seated to sing I'll read the verses in English 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 These two verses Of Psalm 40 We'll remain seated to sing To God's praise in GaelicNINGNINGNING .
[27:29] .NINGNING .
[27:48] .
[28:02] Thank you.
[28:32] Thank you.
[29:02] Thank you.
[29:32] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[29:44] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[29:56] Thank you. Heavenly Father, we acknowledge once more that we are in need of your help, the help of the Holy Spirit, as we take time to read and to meditate upon the Word of God.
[30:10] So we ask for that help. We ask, Lord, that you would take from our mind every distraction, that you would help us to be released from all the concerns, the worries, the things that preoccupy us with this world's troubles.
[30:30] And help us, we pray, to listen with expectation to your voice. Amen. And we ask that you would touch our hearts. We know that we can harden our hearts as we resist the call of Jesus, but we cannot soften our hearts.
[30:46] It's a work of our hearts. It's a work of the Holy Spirit. So soften our hearts, we pray, so that even as it was the experience of Lydia in Acts at the beginning of the New Testament church, that as her heart was opened, we pray that our hearts would be opened to the Word of God, to the Savior, that we would see, that we would hear him, and that we would believe and take hold of him.
[31:15] So we pray for that faith. We ask, Lord, that you would be not only with us. We pray for the children in the Sunday school and for those in the creche. We thank you for them. We recognize that they are an answer to prayer.
[31:28] We ask that they would grow up to know you and to trust you. We pray for them, especially as many of them travel over the next few days, some on holiday and some down to Oban.
[31:39] And we ask, Lord, that you would give them safety and travel, that you would help them with the stress sometimes of having to stand up and sing before people. Be close to them, we ask.
[31:51] We ask that in the holidays, when they have a bit more time to think, that you would be drawing them to yourself, that they in their earliest years would come to know Jesus as Savior.
[32:02] We pray not only for ourselves in this congregation, also we pray for the congregations around us, the different denominations where Christ crucified is preached.
[32:14] We ask that you would be working in these churches, that you would be drawing many people to salvation. We pray for Gordon as he preaches in black this morning and Stuart as he opens your word and preaches there this evening.
[32:27] We pray for Scott as he preaches morning and evening over in Sculpey. And we ask, Lord, that you would bless them and that you would help them. We thank you for David Strain, who was with us over last weekend.
[32:38] And as he wakes up on the other side of the world, that you would help him and give him strength as he preaches to his own congregation. We thank you that we were brought so close to the cross over last weekend.
[32:52] And we ask that you would help us not to drift from there, but day by day to come back to the cross and to look and wonder at all that has been done for us.
[33:03] We pray for anyone who the Spirit was striving with over the weekend. Some maybe who were being called to trust in Jesus and who hesitated. Others who maybe were being called to profess faith in the Christ that they know and who hesitated.
[33:20] We ask, Lord, that you would continue to strive with them and that you would be at work over these days, drawing people to salvation and sanctifying your people, that we would become more like Jesus and that we would not be ashamed to say that we are trusting in Christ.
[33:39] So hear our prayers. We pray also for the persecuted church and many who meet, not as we do, in safety and without fear, but who meet knowing that their lives could be taken, even for coming together in the name of Jesus.
[33:55] And we ask for your protection over them and your blessing in these countries where there is fierce persecution and yet your people are bright and strong. And so hear our prayers and help us, we ask, as we look to you in Jesus' name. Amen.
[34:10] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. I think it's fair to say, I think it's fair to say that people today are much more restless.
[34:31] People today are much more restless than we were in past years. Maybe it's screens that's causing or that's contributing to this.
[34:44] We're constantly seeing images, videos, short videos. The researchers tell us that a video that is over two minutes is just too long.
[34:57] It's not going to hold the attention of people because we're just too restless to concentrate for any longer than two minutes, which doesn't bode well for the live stream, I'm just thinking.
[35:09] I Google searched the phrase, more restless UK, in the course of my preparations this week.
[35:21] And there was a whole myriad of articles that came up in response to the search. And article number two in Google, I think it must have been a forum with young parents.
[35:34] And one comment at the top of the page caught my eye. And I think it was a comment from a young mother who put something on a forum asking for help.
[35:48] This is what she said. She said, over the last few months, I've been feeling more and more restless with life. Like I'm searching for something, but don't know what I'm looking for.
[36:00] The feeling just keeps getting stronger. I'm generally happy in life. I have a lovely husband and children. Do you have any suggestions for what I can do to find whatever it is I'm looking for?
[36:18] And there was a whole load of responses. You know, take up running. Get a job. Take more rest. Go on a holiday.
[36:29] All these things were suggestions in the comments. But the comment that she put on the forum, it just spoke into a lack of rest.
[36:42] A lack of contentment. And it's not a new problem. It's not just for young mothers with beautiful children and a happy husband.
[36:53] This is a comment that could have been written by successful business people. It could have been written by celebrities who have the paparazzi running after them.
[37:06] It could have been written by teenagers, middle-aged people, elderly people who are coming into retirement and thinking, I've got all this money and all this security.
[37:19] And what was it all for? Is this it? Is life just a series of cruises? So a lack of rest, a lack of contentment, it's not a new problem.
[37:34] It's at least 2,000 years old and much older than that. And it's a problem that Jesus addressed in Matthew chapter 11 and then going into Matthew chapter 12.
[37:49] Three points today, the time that we have. First of all, there's rest from the Saviour. There's rest from the Saviour.
[38:00] That's at the end of chapter 11. And the second thing is that there is rest on the Sabbath. And the last thing is that there is rest for the sheep.
[38:13] So first of all, rest from the Saviour. And that takes us to verse 28 of Matthew chapter 11. The words of Jesus, famous words of Jesus that we're often quoting, we're often returning to.
[38:29] Jesus says, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
[38:49] For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Now when people are looking for rest, that's the theme that runs through the sermon, the section.
[39:04] When people are looking for rest, there's various places that they, that we can go. Some try a rebellious life. The drink, drugs and rock and roll kind of life.
[39:19] Remember the Rolling Stones? Mick Jagger, he took that path. But his verdict on it in his most famous song was, I can't get no satisfaction.
[39:30] And I try and I try and I try. There's no rest. There's no satisfaction to be, to be had in the, in the rebellious life.
[39:41] But there are other people. And this was the case that the people, the people that Jesus was speaking to in the immediate context. There's other people. And they're not trying a rebellious life.
[39:55] People aren't looking at them saying, look at the carnage in that life. They take an alternative path and they try the religious life. And the Pharisees that Jesus was speaking to and he was clashing with.
[40:11] They were the, the classic example of those who, who took the religious life path. They were serious men of religion. The Pharisees, they, they took their religion very, very seriously.
[40:27] It wasn't just an hour on a Sunday. It was a whole life. They worked hard at keeping the rules of religion.
[40:39] But they found no rest. So you've got rebels on one side. Going from party to party.
[40:52] Taking everything they can get their hands on. And there's no rest. And you've got the religious professionals on the other hand. Who are absolutely pillars of the community in the eyes of, of, of the people in the community.
[41:09] And Jesus looks into their hearts. And he can see there's, there's no rest. So the question was, and the question is as fresh today as it was in that day.
[41:23] Where is rest to be found? And there's two answers to that very briefly. There's rest in a person. And there's rest in a practice.
[41:36] And the person that we find rest in and receive rest from is Jesus. It's so simple. The children would tell us week by week.
[41:50] There is rest to be found in Jesus. Jesus doesn't say to the people back then and to us today as the word goes forth.
[42:04] He doesn't say go and do. Then give us a whole series of rules to try and keep. What Jesus says is, is come to me.
[42:16] He doesn't say go and do. He says, come to me. Because Jesus can supply rest for our souls.
[42:28] He is the sole singular supplier of rest. We don't earn rest. We don't earn rest. We don't buy rest. We don't attain rest by how religious and how closely we stick to the rules.
[42:46] We receive rest. This is grace. Jesus says, come to me and I will give you.
[42:58] I will give you rest. So today, if you and I want to be saved from our sin.
[43:10] If we want to be saved from an eternity of no rest. Today, if we want to receive the sole satisfaction that the Rolling Stones could not find.
[43:27] Today, if we want to escape the gloom and the darkness that just seems to suffocate us. If we try and make a name for ourselves in this world. Or as we just try and get through day to day.
[43:40] If we want to escape that and go from restless to rest full. We need to come to Jesus.
[43:54] So Jesus says, come to me. There's rest in a person. There's rest from the Savior. But there's also, there's rest in a practice.
[44:08] A discipline. Because notice that Jesus in these verses, he uses the word rest twice. At first he says, I will give you rest.
[44:20] Come to me. I will give you rest. And that, I think, speaks about conversion. When we come to Jesus for the first time. Confessing our sin. Trusting in him.
[44:31] We go from restless to rest full. We're converted. We're saved. Jesus says, come to me. I will give you rest. That's the first time he uses the word rest in this dialogue.
[44:44] But the second time he uses the word rest, he says, you will find rest. You will find rest. Take my yoke upon you.
[44:57] Learn from me. I am gentle and lowly in heart. And you will find rest for your souls. And that speaks about sanctification.
[45:12] Some of us might wonder, what does that word actually mean? Well, sanctification really speaks about a life where we submit to Jesus.
[45:25] It's a life where we are yoked together. To use the picture that Jesus paints. A life where we are yoked together with Jesus.
[45:36] It's a life where we walk closely with Jesus. And when we walk closely with Jesus. When we take time to be with Jesus. When we seek day by day to submit to Jesus.
[45:48] And to repent of sin. And to put self to death. We find that we are continuing to, day by day, enjoy rest.
[46:02] There's a rest. There's a restfulness. There's a peace. There's a peace. That we experience. As we walk with God. But when we wander.
[46:15] As we are prone to. We don't, as Christians, ever lose our salvation. We can't. But we do lose our experience of rest.
[46:30] So we need to be disciplined. As those who are Christians. We need to practice.
[46:43] Living close to Jesus. That there's rest in a person. But there's rest in the practice. Of abiding with him.
[46:54] Staying close to him. As the old book. The old book that Brother Lawrence wrote. Says. We practice the presence of God. We practice living.
[47:05] In the presence of God. And there is rest. A constant, continual rest for our souls. Even when we're going through hard times.
[47:17] Even when life is falling apart. Even when we're struggling with grief. Even when we are weighed down with worry. Even when everyone seems to be against us.
[47:28] And life is a storm. When we're walking close with Jesus. When we are practicing. The presence of God.
[47:40] There is rest. There is rest. So there's rest from the Savior. Rest in the person of Jesus. And rest in the practice. Of staying close to him.
[47:51] Abiding with him. John 15. Second point. Is there's rest on the Sabbath. And this takes us over into. To verse. To chapter 12. We might wonder.
[48:05] Certainly when I came to this passage again. At the beginning of the week. I was wondering. Where is the connection between. The end of Matthew 11. And the beginning of Matthew 12.
[48:17] And I think the connection. Is finding rest. Jesus promises rest to those who come to him. To those who trust him as Savior.
[48:29] To those who submit to him as Lord. And then Jesus. As Lord of the Sabbath. He is gifted to his people. As we talked about with the children. He's gifted to his people.
[48:40] A day of rest. And so verse 1. Of chapter 12. We see Jesus enjoying the Sabbath. And.
[48:52] He's enjoying the Sabbath. By. By taking a walk. With his disciples. Some of us can think back to our childhood. Think about how. It wasn't.
[49:03] Approved to go for a walk. On the Sabbath. And yet we see. Here. Jesus. He's out for a walk. With his disciples.
[49:14] Verse 1. Jesus went through the grain fields. On the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry. And they began to pluck years of corn. And to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it. They said to him.
[49:25] Look. Your disciples are doing. What is not lawful to do. On the Sabbath. So there's a confrontation. The scene is set. Jesus is walking.
[49:36] Out in the grain fields. Pharisees are watching. And there's a clash. It's a confrontation. It's a confrontation. I remember. Hearing.
[49:47] A story. About a confrontation. In a village. In Wester Ross. On the Sabbath day. I don't know if this is a true story or not. But I heard it half a dozen times. There was one particularly notable elder.
[50:01] In this village. A very legalistic elder. And one Sunday afternoon. He was sitting at his window. With his Bible. Half reading his Bible. Half surveying the main street.
[50:12] To make sure there was no activity on it. And he noticed. That there was a couple. Who were out for a walk. On the Sunday afternoon. So. He was off his chair like a rocket.
[50:24] Bible closed. Out the front door. Out onto the main street. And he says to the couple. There are six days to go for a walk. You shouldn't be out walking today.
[50:37] And the couple answered. And they said. But. But. But didn't. Jesus. Walk with his disciples. Through the grain fields. On Sabbath day. And the elder paused.
[50:50] A little bit. Unsettled by this answer. That he wasn't expecting. And he responded. Well. He may have done it back then. But he wouldn't have done it here today. He would have done it here today. He would have done it here today.
[51:05] It sounds like a true story. Now walking is one thing. And likely that would have annoyed the Pharisees. In some measure. But the alleged law breaking.
[51:16] Was related to the eater. Disciples. They're out for a walk. They're a bit peckish. So they. They have a snack. They don't have a Mars bar. Or a toffee crisp.
[51:27] There wasn't a local shop. They could just. Pick something off the shelf. As they passed by. They. They just took a handful of corn. So what's wrong with that?
[51:38] According to the. The laws of the Pharisees. There was various things wrong with that. According to God's law. There was nothing wrong with that. You can go to Deuteronomy. And we can see that.
[51:49] But according to the Pharisees. They had built this. This kind of. Hedge around the commandments. So that they could. Define exactly. What was work. What wasn't work.
[52:00] What was permissible. What was not permissible. So they. They built up this huge case law. About what was right. And wrong on the Sabbath. And according to the laws of the Pharisees. The plucking of the heads of corn.
[52:12] Was considered to be the work of reaping. And the rubbing out of the grain. Was considered to be the work of threshing. So on at least two counts.
[52:23] The disciples were guilty. According to their case law. Of working on the Sabbath. So there's the confrontation. The clash. And it was a nonsense.
[52:39] It's an example. Of how miserable. And heavy. And dark. Christless religion is. It's an example.
[52:51] Of what happens. You start. Adding bits to the Bible. And bolting our rules. Onto the word of God. And so Jesus.
[53:03] He's. He's got the charge against them now. And he. He lodges his defense. He corrects them. He says to them. Verse three. Have you not read. What David did.
[53:14] When he was hungry. To those. Who were with them. How he entered the house of God. And ate bread. The bread of the presence. Which it was not lawful. For him to eat. Nor for those who are with them. But only for the priests.
[53:25] The priests. So this takes us back. So this takes us back. To first Samuel 21. You can do that yourself. We're not going into detail here. Just now. But this relates to first Samuel 21. Where David.
[53:36] And those with him. They eat the consecrated bread. One commentator says. The consecrated bread. Was to be eaten only by the priests. Yet David and his soldiers ate it.
[53:47] And so the commentator here comments. And says. Certainly. The son of David. Jesus. Has a right to eat. His father's grain from the field.
[53:59] So we see David. And he eats the consecrated bread. Although it was against their laws. But he was able to do that. Because of who he was. He was the Lord's anointed. So if David could do it.
[54:10] Jesus could certainly. Take some grains of corn from a field. That was the argument. Then Jesus continues with his argument. And he says in verse 5.
[54:21] Or have you not read in the law. How on the Sabbath. The priests in the temple. Profane the Sabbath. And are guiltless. And so again. This is a very straightforward argument.
[54:32] On the Sabbath. Work stopped. For almost everyone. Except the priests. The priests actually worked overtime. Because there was twice as many. Sacrifices happening on the Sabbath.
[54:44] As there were on the other days. And yet nobody said. You're breaking the law. Because they were engaged in worship. There was a priority. Of worship.
[54:55] In the temple. And then Jesus. Speaking of himself. Says in verse 6. I tell you. Something greater. Than the temple. Than the temple. Is here. And he was speaking of himself.
[55:12] The temple. Pointed to Jesus. Like the commentator says. In the New Testament. Jesus. As the new temple.
[55:24] The meeting place. Between God. And man. And then Jesus. Concludes his defense. In verse 7.
[55:35] By saying. If you. And if you had. Known. What this means. I desire mercy. And not sacrifice. You would have not. Condemned.
[55:46] The guiltless. I recognize. There's a fair bit of detail. Nobody's fallen asleep. And working through the detail of that. But.
[55:57] You know. What was the. What was the. The big issue. That Jesus was actually. Underlining. What was the big issue. That was going on. In this. Scene.
[56:08] The big issue. That the Pharisees. Had turned. The Sabbath day. Into a suffocating. Day. Of rules. And restrictions. It was all about.
[56:21] What people saw. It was all about. Outward rituals. And Jesus. Says to them.
[56:32] You've missed the whole point. Of the day. Weersby says. God wants. Mercy. Not religious. Sacrifice.
[56:43] He wants. Love. Legalism. And Jesus. Reveals himself. The son of man. In verse eight.
[56:57] The Pharisees. Are indignant. They're saying. Who is this guy. What to do. What does he know. About our lots. What does he know. About the Sabbath. And then Jesus. Introduces himself.
[57:08] He identifies himself. As being the son of man. That's a title. From Daniel seven. That points to the Messiah. And Jesus says. In verse eight.
[57:19] The son of man. Is Lord. Of the Sabbath. And he declares. The Sabbath day. To be a blessing.
[57:31] And not a burden. It was to be. It was to be. A day of rest. And refreshment. And not a day.
[57:42] Of heavy. Heavy religion. And ritual. So where does this leave us.
[57:54] Leave us. Well today. We don't. Observe. Sabbath. Because the Sabbath. We observe.
[58:08] The Lord's Day. The early Christians. They. They came together. On the Lord's Day. To remember. And to rejoice. In the fact. This is the day.
[58:19] From the dead. And this day. As we said. To the children. It's a gift. It's a holy day. It's to be separated.
[58:31] From the other days. It's a day. Where we have. Permission. We even have. A command. To stop work. And to enjoy rest.
[58:43] As we take time. To be. With Jesus. To be. With Jesus. Some of you.
[58:54] Will have seen. The. The debate. The noise. Online. Just now. About Tesco's. Potentially opening. On. On Sunday. There's a whole lot.
[59:06] Of. Comments. And controversy. About this. Here's a question. That speaks. Into this passage. Should we resist. Tesco opening. On Sunday. I won't ask.
[59:18] For hands. Yes. We should. Why? Because Sunday. Is the Lord's day.
[59:31] It's God's gift. To us. And we need the rest. Physically. And spiritually.NINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNING this gift of the Lord's Day.
[60:17] We should seek to find rest, a special kind of rest on the Sabbath. Final point, rest in the Savior, rest on the Sabbath, and briefly to finish, rest for the sheep.
[60:39] Verse 9, the Pharisees are still annoyed with Jesus. And it says, he went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand.
[60:51] And they asked him, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? And we're told in the note here, they asked him so that they might accuse him. The Pharisees are persistent because the Pharisees are being driven by the devil.
[61:09] There's a spiritual warfare going on here and they're determined to make charges against Jesus' stick. So this man who is in the synagogue with a withered hand, there's a high likelihood that this man was a plant, that he had been taken and put there by the Pharisees to test Jesus.
[61:32] The Pharisees' laws, again, this is not God's law. This is their case law. This is the laws that they'd bolted onto God's law. Their laws stated, you could only give medical help to someone on the Sabbath day if the person's life was in danger.
[61:48] Otherwise, let them suffer. So here we have a man, his hand is withered, but his life isn't in danger. And so they're watching closely to see if Jesus would intervene and he would heal this man.
[62:06] But Jesus knows their hearts. He can see the trap. And he's ready for them. And so Jesus responds and he says to them, verse 11, which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?
[62:25] And the answer to that question was, all of them would rescue a sheep on the Sabbath. If a sheep that they owned had fallen into a pit on the Sabbath, they would rescue that sheep.
[62:40] And actually, their law permitted that to happen. It was legal to not allow a sheep to suffer in a pit, but to lift it out and help it. The law permitted that.
[62:53] And then Jesus says in verse 12, of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? So it is lawful, says Jesus, to do good on the Sabbath.
[63:04] Then he said to the man, stretch out your hand. The man's hand is withered. This shows the power of God's word. Stretch out your hand, says Jesus. Because Jesus speaks it, the man stretches his hand out and it was restored, healthy like the other.
[63:21] So what's going on here? As we move towards the conclusion. Well, Jesus, he's giving them a principle and he also gives them a picture.
[63:39] So what's the principle? So what's the principle in Jesus' response here? Well, the principle is quite straightforward. He says to the Pharisees, if you can show mercy to a sheep on the Sabbath, then you can certainly show mercy to a person.
[64:01] That was God's express will. That those who are his people, that show mercy. Jesus has already quoted this.
[64:12] It's a quote from Isaiah 6 and 6. I desire mercy, says the Lord, and not sacrifice. The Pharisees are all about the sacrifice. Jesus is saying, you've got no word of the mercy.
[64:26] And if you're merciful enough to take a sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath day, have some mercy on this poor man with a hand. That was the principle.
[64:38] You can show mercy to a sheep, you can show mercy to a man, and a woman, and a boy, and a girl. Acts of mercy, and acts of necessity, were, and they still are lawful, on the Lord's day.
[64:56] So if we have an accident at home, or we've come ill on a Sunday, mercifully, there are people who will respond to a phone call.
[65:07] and they'll come out and they'll help us and they'll take us to hospital and give us whatever we need. That's right and that's in order on the Lord's day.
[65:19] Mercifully, if we're away in a holiday summer as half the congregation are, and it's Sunday and our stomachs are rumbling and we need some breakfast and lunch and dinner, there are people who will there are people who will feed us.
[65:33] That's fine. I deserve mercy and not sacrifice, says the Lord. There's a principle there that Jesus is making clear in this encounter and then there's a picture that Jesus paints.
[65:50] And we finish with the picture. And in the picture that Jesus paints, we see sheep and a shepherd.
[66:00] And we see a shepherd who will not leave the sheep in danger, but who comes to save them from the pit that they've fallen into.
[66:18] That's the picture that Jesus is painting. And in this picture that Jesus is painting, we are beginning to see Jesus. Jesus.
[66:30] the good shepherd who came to the lost sheep of Israel. Although they couldn't see at this point that they were lost.
[66:43] And yet Jesus, he came for them to be the good shepherd. He came to people who needed to be saved from the pit. He came to people who needed to be healed from the soul-shriveling sickness of sin.
[67:00] And this picture that Jesus paints, we see Jesus who came to offer us the mercy of God by becoming the once and for all sacrifice for sinners.
[67:24] that's what we remembered last weekend. That Jesus, in order for us to receive the mercy of God, he became the sacrifice.
[67:37] He went willingly to the cross. He endured the storm of God's wrath death. So that we can receive rest.
[67:54] And this is the gospel. Hear this as we close. There is rest.
[68:04] those who have come here today and who feel restless and dark and weighed down and guilty and hollow.
[68:19] There is rest offered in Christ. There is forgiveness of all our sins offered in Christ.
[68:34] There is mercy. we are sinners. We are hell deserving. And yet there is mercy offered in Christ. There is grace offered to us in Jesus.
[68:50] There is peace which we taste in this world. It's a peace that comes from another world. It's a peace that we'll experience in fullness in the world to come. There is joy.
[69:02] There is satisfaction. There is life. for all who will come to Jesus. For all who will say the Lord is my shepherd.
[69:22] Tragically the Pharisees would not come. The Pharisees verse 14 went out and conspired against Jesus.
[69:36] How to destroy him. And the question for us to finish with is will we come to Jesus?
[69:51] Augustine said our souls are restless until they find rest in him. So come to him. Trust in him.
[70:01] Walk close with him. and enjoy the rest that he offers. We'll pray. Heavenly Father we thank you for your word and we pray that none of us here today would leave still restless still dark and feeling down and feeling guilty and feeling the heaviness of sin upon us.
[70:34] We thank you that there is the offer of forgiveness there is the offer of rest there is the offer of peace there is the offer of joy for all who will come to Jesus.
[70:49] May we not be like the Pharisees who just want to kill that voice and close down that offer. Help us to hear not to harden our hearts but to come to find rest and on this day to enjoy that rest as we walk with the Lord.
[71:13] We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Mission praise 494 to finish. Oh for a closer walk with God. Amen.
[71:52] friend. A light to shine upon the roads that leads to the love.
[72:09] When it's a blessedness I knew when I first saw the Lord.
[72:23] Where is that soul refreshing view of Jesus and his word.
[72:39] What peace learned I once enjoyed how sweet and heavenly still!
[72:52] But they have left a aching point the world never fill.
[73:05] Return O holy God return O holy God return Sweet messenger of rest!
[73:22] I hate the sins that made me mourn and drove me from my rest.
[73:36] the dear side of I have known what e'er the title be, and me to tear it from thy throne and worship only thee.
[74:05] So shall my walk be close with God come answer me my name so pure life shall mark the road that leads me to the love now the the Christ the fellowship Holy be with us all forever more Amen to