[0:00] Good morning everyone. A warm welcome to the service this morning. Special welcome to those who are visiting with us and today we've probably got more people visiting than we have as a long congregation.
[0:14] ! It's good to see you all. It's good to have the visitors from the Island Study Conference with us tonight and this morning. After the morning service I think we have tea and coffee served here as usual and there is a fellowship this evening after the evening service.
[0:34] So if you're able to stay behind for fellowship this morning and this evening it would be good to get the chance to meet together. The service this morning will be taken by Paul, Paul Levy, who most of us have heard over the course of this weekend.
[0:48] Paul ministers in London, he's married, he's got three children. We'll hear more about that this evening. But it's been great to be under his ministry and the ministry of Professor Janangas who will be preaching this evening.
[1:02] And we'll hear a little bit from them. I don't know if you know this yet, but we'll hear more about your life this evening at the fellowship. And there will no doubt be the chance to have questions and some informal fellowship.
[1:17] We have a creche and this is reminding me that we've got a creche and if you want to take the wee ones through, there's a creche just behind us there.
[1:30] You can go out that door and turn left. On Sunday School we'll head out after the second singing. The Sunday School this morning will just be for the primary school children, the older class, for the S1s and up. They'll stay in today.
[1:48] That happens when we have extra good preachers. They go out most weeks. So the only other thing really to say, we have our usual notices for North Harris Free Church. They've gone out on the email and you've seen them on the screen.
[2:06] I'll just highlight one thing that's out from the normal schedule and that is that we have a congregational meeting this coming Thursday evening.
[2:17] We were going to have that a couple of weeks ago, but it was postponed. So the previously postponed congregational meeting to outline plans for congregational development, building development and payback of an outstanding loan will now take place this Thursday, 12 February 7.30pm.
[2:35] So maybe I should just say, for all these visitors who've come over, the cliche, I'm with all your riches. The building is very comfortable, I'm sure you'll agree. And it's renovated and we've been in it for quite a number of years now.
[2:54] We still haven't paid for it. And so we have about £100,000 left to pay of the loan. So we're really trying to just make plans and try to focus a little bit on how we can repay this.
[3:09] So if there are any of you, the Osoks, who have discovered you have £100,000 that is lying around and can be put to the Lord's use.
[3:20] If there's anyone in London or Helmsdale, who you know of, who would be feeling generous, then we would be more than happy to hear from you.
[3:32] So these, I think, are all the new pieces I had to work for now. Thank you very much for your welcome.
[3:43] The Lord is the one who calls us to worship him. We love him because he first loved us. And so hear these words from Psalm 24 that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.
[3:57] For he's founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord and who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart.
[4:08] Who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
[4:19] Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. And that is what we've come to do in worship this morning to seek the face of our God.
[4:32] Let's stand and let's sing our opening Psalm. Psalm 24 and from verse 5. He from the eternal shall receive the blessing him upon. Let's stand and sing Psalm 24.
[4:43] He keeps lift up your heads on high.
[4:59] If your blood last morning He lifted up the soul of King of glory and the King.
[5:15] But who of glory is the King? The mighty Lord is this.
[5:27] Feel that sin, Lord, that great in might and strong in battle is.
[5:49] Ye, in case, lift up your hands ye doors, doors not to last for gain.
[6:04] He lifted up the soul of King of glory and the King. But who is he that is the King of glory who is this?
[6:27] The Lord of hosts and andbodies, the King of glory is.
[6:39] The Lord of hosts and andbodies, the King of glory is.
[6:50] Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
[7:10] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[7:30] Our help is in the name of the Lord and the maker of heaven and earth. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, our Lord and our God, you who are infinite and eternal and unchangeable in your being, wisdom and power, holiness, justice and goodness and truth.
[7:55] We humble ourselves before you and we acknowledge that you are God and there is no other. That you today are the rock and the refuge of your people.
[8:08] That there is no other name by which we may be saved other than the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we praise you, one God in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
[8:21] We praise you for your holiness. That you are holy, holy, holy. And we praise you that not only are you holy, you are full of steadfast love and compassion.
[8:32] And we praise you that you are our covenant God. That you have pledged yourself to your people. And that you have promised that as we come and call on your name that you will bless us and you will make us a blessing to the ends of the earth.
[8:48] And so we rejoice at the privilege of being able to worship you, the living God. We confess our sins. We admit our guilt. And we ask you to forgive us for the sins that we have done.
[9:03] And for the things that we have not done which we should have. We ask you to forgive our thoughts, our words and our deeds. Even our best acts, Heavenly Father, are tainted by sin.
[9:19] And so we pray that you will have mercy upon us in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for his sake. We do pray that you pour your spirit out upon us.
[9:30] That as we draw near to you, you would draw near to us. And we don't want to be those people that worship you with our lips, but our hearts are far from you. And so we pray that you'd speak to us through your word.
[9:43] You'd strengthen our faith. That as we join with the saints all around the world and the saints in heaven and the angels. Lord, that you would meet with us. We pray that you would be at work.
[9:57] Bringing the dead to life. Causing blind eyes to see. Bringing those who are far off near. We ask, gracious God, that we might meet with the living God this morning.
[10:08] And we pray all these things. In the powerful name of Jesus Christ, your son. Amen. Do be seated. No, you are seated.
[10:20] And the children. The children like to come to the front. And I am going to speak to you now. I am going to speak to you now. So if you come in this little patch here, that would be great. Go on.
[10:32] Go on. You can come and sit. John 10. Okay. Look. There's loads of you. It's great. Come, come, come.
[10:46] Great. Who knows what this is? A pound. A pound. We call it a pound. Yes, a pound. A pound coin.
[10:56] All right. Who wants it? Me. Okay. So I need a volunteer. Yeah. Move on to. Okay, great. Okay. I'll take you first.
[11:07] Come, come. Great. Come. Okay. If you get it, you can have it. All right. Great. Go for it. Strong.
[11:23] That's good. Another helper. Sorry, another helper. No, no, no. Wait a minute. I need a little one. I need a little one. A little one. A little one. Good, good. Go on. Go for it. All right.
[11:34] What do you reckon? Anyone from this side? I'll have to divide the pound. Keep going. Come on then. Look at this.
[11:45] He's very confident. All right. Okay. Go on. Oh. Look at that. Sorry. Keep going. Go on then. Look at that.
[11:55] The three of you. Any more? Go on. Come, come. Right. Go on. Oh, nails.
[12:08] Look at that. Right. I'm going to count down from five. Go on. Big effort. Five, four, three, two, one.
[12:19] Oh, Scottish children. So, you couldn't get it, is it? And do you know what?
[12:30] I've given this children's store all over the world, and no one has ever got it out of my hand. And that reminds us of a verse. Listen to this verse. Okay. This is what Jesus says.
[12:42] He says this. He says, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. And here it is.
[12:54] And no one will snatch them out of my hand. Now it says, My father who's given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand.
[13:07] I and the father are one. So, here is the truth. Okay. You little ones, as you trust in the Lord Jesus, and as you follow the Lord Jesus, and as you say, The Lord is my shepherd, and you trust him, it's like you're this coin in Jesus' hand.
[13:25] And the father puts his hand over Jesus' hands, and he says, No one shall pluck you out of my hand. So, sometimes we think, don't we?
[13:37] We think, I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep going as a Christian. Sometimes we think, do you know what? It's really hard in school to love the Lord Jesus and follow the Lord Jesus. And sometimes it's hard to honour my mum, and honour my dad, and to love my brothers and sisters.
[13:53] And it's hard to be a Christian, and you think, I don't know whether I'm going to be able to keep going. You remember this? Jesus says, none, no one, shall pluck you out of my hand.
[14:05] And so, it's an amazing thing, isn't it? And so, these grown-ups here, some of them have been Christians for hundreds of years. For many, many years.
[14:17] And do you know what? Some of them trusted in the Lord Jesus when they were your age. And their story is, none shall pluck you out of my hand. Let's put our hands together, and let's pray.
[14:29] Heavenly Father, we thank you. And that if we will hear the voice of the Lord Jesus, and we will trust in him as our good shepherd, there is no one.
[14:41] There is nothing that will pluck us out of your hand. And so, we pray for these little ones that they will trust in the Lord Jesus all their days. We pray that they would stay strong in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[14:55] We pray that when they're afraid, they will remember, Lord, that none shall pluck them out of your hand. Thank you for the strong saviour that the Lord Jesus is. And we pray this in his name. Amen.
[15:07] Amen. Do you want to go back to your seats? Yes, please. In your own time. Oh, are you going to go to Sunday School?
[15:19] They'll hover. They'll go away at the end of singing. Right, okay. Well, our next singing is, and we're going to sing the hymn Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sand that Saved a Wreck like me. And then you're going to leave us, aren't you?
[15:29] Good. Great. Amen. Amen.
[16:30] Amen. Amen.
[17:30] Amen. Revelation 14.
[18:07] Revelation 14.
[18:19] Revelation 14 and verse 1. This is God's holy word. The Apostle John writes,
[19:24] And he said with a loud voice, Fear God and give him glory.
[19:38] Because the hour of his judgment has come and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water. Another angel, a second, followed saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.
[19:49] She who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality. And another angel, a third, followed them saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger.
[20:08] And he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night.
[20:20] These worshippers of the beast and its image and whoever receives the mark of its name. Here is a call for the endurance of the saints. Those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
[20:33] And I hear a voice from heaven saying, Write this, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Blessed indeed, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, for their deeds follow them.
[20:47] Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on a cloud was one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.
[21:11] So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.
[21:23] And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who was authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, Put in your sickle, and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grape are ripe.
[21:36] So the angel swung his sickle across the earth, and gathered the grape harvest of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia, which is about 184 miles.
[22:02] The grass withers, and the flowers fade. But the word of our God stands forever. Let's bow before God in prayer. Let's pray.
[22:21] Our Father in heaven, we praise you because Jesus said, heaven and earth will pass away, but your word will never pass away. We praise you that you are the God who is there, and you are not silent.
[22:32] That you are a God who has revealed yourself. You speak to us in the beauty of creation. Your invisible attributes are clearly seen.
[22:44] We see something of the splendor, and the glory in the sky above us. The wonder of who you are in the creation. We thank you for the beauty of all that you have made.
[22:56] And we praise you that day after day, you pour forth speech. That you are there, and you are not silent. And we praise you, heavenly Father, that you are a God who speaks, and you have spoken to us through your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.
[23:14] We praise you that he reveals your character for the beautiful, gentle, and lowliness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[23:25] We thank you that Jesus Christ invites every one of us today. He says, come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and we are weary, and we are heavy laden. And so we come to you, Lord Jesus, and you are gentle and lowly.
[23:39] And we thank you that you give rest for our souls. And so we pray, heavenly Father, that each one of us today, whatever state we find ourselves, that we would find our rest in the Lord Jesus.
[23:52] We praise you, Father, that you speak to us through your Word, your holy, inerrant Word. We thank you for the gift of the Scriptures. And we pray that as we come to them now, that you would speak to us through them.
[24:05] That you would grant to us the help of your Holy Spirit, that your same Holy Spirit, who inspired men to write the Scriptures, that he would enlighten us, that we might know and grasp something of the length, and the breadth, and the height, and the depth of the love of God for us in Jesus Christ.
[24:23] You tell us in your words, to pray for all those in authority. And so we pray for our Prime Minister, and his government. We pray for His Majesty the King. We pray for those who are in local authority.
[24:37] And we ask for the judiciary, for those who are in the police, for all those who are in authority. Help them to recognise, that the authority that they have been given, has been given to them, by the living God.
[24:48] That they would pay attention, and heed your law. Heavenly Father, we ask forgiveness for the sins of our land. We ask forgiveness for the times, when we have called good, evil, and evil good.
[25:03] And so we pray for our government. We ask, Heavenly Father, for those Christians, that are in Parliament, that you would enable them, to stand fearlessly, for you. To speak truth.
[25:14] We pray that you would restrain, the hands of evil men. And Lord, we ask that, we might be governed, in such a way, that we could live quiet, and godly lives. So that the gospel of the Lord Jesus, could go forth in power.
[25:29] We pray for those lands, where there is struggling, and suffering, and persecution. We particularly remember, the country of Iran. And we thank you, for the great work of the Lord, that is going on there. We thank you for many, thousands of people, who have become Christians there, over these last 10, 20 years.
[25:44] And yet Lord, we know that they suffer. We know that it is, an evil regime. And so you are the Lord, who causes leaders, to rise up, and brings them down.
[25:55] And so we pray, that there would be change, in that land. We pray, that there would be a government, that is put in place, that would lead justly, and would not oppress people.
[26:06] We ask for our brothers, and sisters there, that you would enable them, to hold out the words of life. Heavenly Father, there are many other places, where your people are suffering. And we think of North Korea, we think of Afghanistan, we think of parts of India, parts of Indonesia, so many places.
[26:22] And Lord, we thank you, that they are known to you. And we ask that by your spirit, you would draw near to them, this day. Heavenly Father, we pray for one another.
[26:34] You know, each one of us, our hearts are open before you. You know, the struggles, and the anxieties, that we face. Help us, Heavenly Father, to hear your word.
[26:45] Strengthen our faith, in Jesus Christ. Open our eyes, that we might see him. And we pray, all these things, knowing that we are, unworthy servants.
[26:58] And yet, we are your dearly, beloved children, who you have granted, every spiritual blessing, in Christ. And so we pray, for us here, and wherever your word, is faithfully preached, on this island, in this country, around the world.
[27:14] May you bless, the preaching of your word, this day. For the glory, of Jesus Christ's name. Amen. And we are going to have, our Gaelic Psalm, which is, Psalm 37, and verses 8 to 11.
[27:32] I'm going to read it, in English. And then you are going, to sing it. In Gaelic. And I'm going to rejoice, to listen. Psalm 37. 33.
[27:43] 33. If I should read, my own writing. 33. I let all the earth, fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants, of the world, stand in awe of him. For he spoke, and it came to be, he commanded, and it stood form.
[27:56] The Lord brings, the council of the nations, to nothing. He frustrates, the plans of the people. The council of the Lord, stands forever. The plans of his heart. to all generations.
[28:09] Psalm 33. Psalm 33. desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde CHOIR SINGS
[29:10] Thank you.
[29:40] Oh Oh Oh
[31:10] Oh Oh Oh Oh
[32:12] Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh well to open your bibles to revelation chapter 14 revelation chapter 14 a number of people were talking about gaelic this morning and talking about being the language of heaven and i'm very very sorry to disappoint you but welsh is the language of heaven but uh it's wonderful wonderful um and really deeply moving to hear you sing um god's praise i want to bring you the greetings of the church where i serve in the international presbyterian church in ealing in west london do come and see us at some time we're not far from heathrow not far from the center of london we'd love um to meet you and i want to thank you for your welcome i've really um enjoyed being with you it's been a real privilege to have fellowship with you i have loved hearing john angus it's done me much good and so i will go home tomorrow with my heart very full indeed and with thanksgiving let's bow our heads in prayer before we come to go word god's word our father we are we are very much aware that without you we can do nothing and so we pray gracious god that you would speak to us and that you would help us that you would help me to speak as i ought and that you would help those who hear to hear with faith we ask gracious god that you would deal with us now we pray this for the glory of jesus christ that we might truly fear you in jesus name amen um during this weekend if you've not been with us um i've been doing a three-part series on the fear of the lord um on friday night i talked about how the fear of the lord often really does mean fear yesterday i talked about that how the fear of the lord should transform all our other fears and what i want to do this morning is really to talk about why the world should fear the lord and it seems to me as i've thought about it over this weekend uh the more i've thought about it the more i realize i've barely begun to scratch the surface of this topic are there's so much more that could be said about the fear of the lord so many more important texts in the bible that i think could be mine for treasure and as i've studied the bible um again in the light of looking at this subject the fear of the lord i've i've begun to see it more and begin to see it everywhere and so what i've done over these um three sessions is not a comprehensive treatment of the subject and can i encourage you keep thinking about it keep reflecting about it keep looking at it really what i've done is um looked at it from three different angles yesterday afternoon i began my talk by reflecting that there is so much fear in the world we live in a very fearful world so much of um your friends your neighbors your work colleagues live in fear but i ended yesterday by suggesting that the solution to all our fears from the bible is not less fear but more fear but the bible's answer to um the fears that we face is not less fear but the
[36:20] fear of the lord more of the right kind of fear that's what we need and so um how i want to begin this morning as by saying that that right kind of fear that fear of the lord there is so little of in our world there is nowhere near enough i'm trembling before god there is nowhere near enough or for god or respect for god or an appreciation of god's power and majesty and holiness and justice in the world that you and i live in there is so little fear of god so little but it's always been like that i write through history when god's people have looked out into the world in which they live this is what they've seen so the very first time that the phrase the fear of the lord is mentioned in in the bible you find it on the lips of father abraham genesis 20 verse 11 listen to what abraham says as he himself thinks about his new neighbors in this place where he's living called gerar he says there is surely no fear of god in this place and what about in exodus when moses is pleading with pharaoh pharaoh uh to let god's people go um with visit after visit after visit to the royal court and according to acts 29 verse 29 moses said to him as soon as i've gone out of the city i will stretch out my hands to the lord the thunder will cease there'll be no more hail so that you may know that the earth is the lord's but as for you pharaoh and your servants i know that you you do not yet fear the lord and so it goes on through um the whole of scripture and so it's no surprise isn't it when we get to romans chapter three and that wonderful summary of the human condition if you turn there and look at it and there's this withering collection that paul makes of old testament passages they're strung together to paint a picture of what you and i are like by nature and so let me read to you paul's great conclusion romans chapter three in verse 10 none is righteous no not one there's no one in the right no one no one understands no one seeks for god all have turned aside together they become worthless no one does good not even one their throat is an open grave they use their tongues to deceive the venom of asps is under their lips their mouth is full of curses and bitterness their feet are swift to shed blood in their paths are ruin and misery and the way of peace they have not known and then here's the killer there is no fear of god before their eyes and surely that is as true today as it was when paul wrote it to the romans 2000 years ago it's true in the isle of harris it's true in london there is no fear of god before their eyes it's true in your workplace it's true in your school there is no fear of god before their eyes and yet there needs to be because what the world needs is more wisely to fear the lord and what i want to do this morning is really to reflect on the bible as a whole but with special reference a reference to revelation chapter 14 because i don't know whether you picked it up but as i read it revelation 14 paints two groups of people two groups of people on the opposite side of a great chasm that god has established in eternity and so in this chapter we are dealing with the fate of the redeemed and also the fate of to use the language of the passive passage the harvested that is those who've fallen under the wrath of god the fate of the redeemed and the fate of the harvested the passage starts with redemption and it ends with the harvest but in the middle part we hear
[40:24] the words of god's angels his messengers and so i want to take those three passages three sections the start the end and then the middle and so verses one to five let's begin with the redeemed we're introduced to 144 000 in the book of revelation that is a symbolic number it's a number that represents all of god's people there are those that verse one says have the father's name and the name of christ the lamb written on their foreheads that is how john sees them in his vision and that seal stands in direct contrast to the mark of the beast which others have on their foreheads and on their hands in john's vision every human being has one mark or the other it's how he distinguishes who belongs to whom and he makes it very clear doesn't he that the redeemed belong to jesus they are with the lamb and whatever else we want to say about heaven and what it will be like being with the lamb is its best feature the lamb is all the glory in emmanuel's land whatever else you might anticipate and we do anticipate heaven don't we we anticipate lots of things there's lots of questions about what the new creation will be like what sport will be like what our bodies will be like so many questions that we have no idea what the answers are but what do we look forward to most about heaven it is that we will be with jesus the one that we've loved but never seen the one who gave himself for us but we've never been able to thank face to face the one who when he came and walked the earth blessed everyone he came into contact with the one to whom we owe an eternity of praise and that's precisely what we find isn't it in revelation 14 we find them singing here the redeemed are singing why because their hearts are filled with delight to be in the presence of jesus and we're told that they're singing a new song because this is a new day christ is on the throne for all the people to see and yet you notice in the opening paragraph it is only the followers of jesus who sing this song they are the only ones that know the words it is the privilege singing so when you go to the football what do we chant we chant you only sing when you're winning you only sing when you're winning that's true that is true and it is only those who are winning in revelation 14 who are singing verse 4 and 5 tells us that these redeemed singers they are also the blameless people verse 4 they are those who are described as those who did not defile themselves with women and i expect and i think this is a metaphor for spiritual faithfulness as opposed to spiritual adultery these are the people who didn't cheat on god by worshiping something or someone else they were true to him they were loyal verse 5 which of they didn't lie that they were people of faithfulness and speech they they were blameless that that doesn't mean that they never sinned it simply means that they can't be accused of betrayal they had an unblemished record of loyalty to the lord jesus in verse 4 it says that they follow the lamb wherever he goes and the final thing we're told about them is that they are purchased verse 4 it is these who have not defiled themselves with women for they are virgins it is these who follow the lamb wherever he goes these have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for god and the lamb
[44:32] so these people have been bought by the lamb and by his blood that they might be rescued from the earth they might be plucked out from among other men and women devoted they are devoted to his son and that's what ultimately distinguishes them it distinguishes them from other men and women and boys and girls it's not something that they've done but do you notice it's something that god has done it's something that the lamb has done because the lamb is all the glory in immanuel's land it's something that the lamb has done on their behalf by the lamb's blood these people have been bought they've been purchased why so they might live for him and that is a wonderful picture it's all the more wonderful when you've come to learn it's a picture of you in fact when we do come to see ourselves in these verses i think it's very hard not to weep for joy or at least it ought to be hard and part of the joy is that we need no longer to fear god's wrath and that's something very significant in the bible the bible keeps telling us about the fear of the lord but the fear of the lord's judgment is a fear that only some people need to have and this is a picture of those who've been redeemed from that fear because there is no condemnation in christ jesus and it's a redemption from that fear which causes many to say that for christians when we read the bible fear doesn't really mean fear and there's something right of that of course if all we meant by fear was the fear of god's wrath or god's judgment that would be there would be absolutely no need for us as redeemed people to fear the lord in that way that's what john one john four verse 18 means when it says that perfect love casts out fear and that is indeed something to really rejoice in there is no fear of judgment for the christian christians should never fear the wrath of god and sadly i know many of us do sometimes the devil tricks us into doubting that jesus mercy really could be this good but it is this good and satan is a liar when it comes to the wrath of god his perfect love drives out that fear those who are redeemed from his judgment are fearless in that sense but as i've been arguing in this series fear of god's judgment is not the only fear of god that there is there is a right fear of god that even christians carry around in their hearts and far from being at odds with the gospel of god's grace the bible tells us that this fear is actually produced by god's grace now some of you might be thinking steady on what are we talking about let me point you to a psalm that will stretch your mind and it will widen your heart certainly done that for me turn with me to psalm 130 and let me read you the first four verses of psalm 130 the psalmist says this he says i'm out of the depths i cry to you oh lord oh lord hear my voice let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy if you oh lord should mark iniquities oh lord who could stand but with you there is forgiveness that you may be that you may be feared with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared now if that text doesn't make you reconsider what it means to fear god nothing will in that verse we're not talking about um god's distance from us god's holiness we're not talking in that verse about god's matchless purity but here we're talking about the holiness of his drawing near to us
[48:36] the holiness of his love and forgiveness we're not talking about trembling because of his superior majesty and power and his otherness but because in his majesty and power he's come to embrace us with his mercy we're not talking about the fear of god's judgment but the fear of god's grace and in case you're tempted to think this just doesn't make any sense let me ask you this is it not possible for a person to fall down trembling when they realize that the god of the universe has seen them in all their utter wretchedness but he has loved them and he has come for them in his son and that god's own son has bled and died for them and rose again for them to offer forgiveness and cleansing and adoption on eternal life and isn't it perfectly understandable for when someone grasps that for them to be overwhelmed by that as much as any other encounter with god is not god's grace in the person of jesus as much as a vision of his greatness as any blinding light could ever be and of course that's exactly what we see in many parts of the bible it's what we see in revelation as well the saints don't just bow down in humble worship because god is powerful they also bow down in humble worship because god is gracious and i hope you've had that experience yourself at least at some point in your life and if you haven't i hope you have it today and it seems to me that that response makes a great deal of sense if you truly grasp what god has done for you these are the redeemed and because these are the redeemed they fear god's wrath no more and yet they still fear him and they fear him for his staggering kindness that he has showed them in his redemption and i think that's a great word isn't it staggering his kindness makes redeemed people stagger and then by contrast there are the harvested and i'm thinking of verses 14 to 20 and once again we're told john looks in his vision and what he sees must have left john wishing that he'd closed his eyes and there's a there's a white cloud and the son of man is seated on it he's wearing a gold crown to signify his kingship he's holding a sharp sickle which is an ominous sign of what he's about to do verse 15 and another angel came out of the temple calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud put in your sickle and reap for the hour to reap has come for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe so so he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth and the earth was reaped and for verse 17 john sees another angel who was a sickle and this time the worshipers of the beast are depicted as grapes in the vine he swings his sickle and the grapes um are thrown they are dropped into the wine press of god's wrath it's actually the third time in the chapter that the wine metaphor is used there's something which captures um very eloquently but eerily the justice that this image depicts those that have drunk the wine of spiritual adultery those who spent their lives in carefree revelry are themselves turned into wine but the wine here is their blood look at verse 19 so the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of god and the wine press was trodden outside the city and blood
[52:37] flowed from the wine press as high as a horse's bridal for 1600 stadia which is um about 184 miles according to google that is the distance from the isle of harris to edinburgh and verse 20 is shocking isn't it in fact it's almost too graphic to talk about uh verse 20 is deeply deeply disturbing and once again i think we need to appreciate um it is not a description of something that will literally happen but if this was a film and this image even in fiction it would stay with us it would probably haunt us for weeks to come the imagery is deliberately shocking but it's also important that while you understand it is symbolic it is not fiction it's reminding us of something true something that we need to see this is what god plainly shows will happen to the harvested they will feel the full fury of the lord's wrath and they most certainly should fear it which leads me back to the section in the middle and we hear the lord's messengers before he tells us what will happen to those who don't belong to christ he tells us what god is saying to the world right now because the people of the world are not left helplessly to face some irresistible fear god does not just arbitrarily save some and leave others he speaks to us he speaks to you he speaks to the earth and in fact he's been speaking since the beginning of history until now and he calls upon people to find refuge from the wrath that is to come let me remind you of verse 6 the gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth to every nation and tribe and language including gaelic and people and he said with a loud voice fear god and give him glory i look at verse 6 the gospel is as long as it is wide notice that it is proclaimed to every tribe and language and people it's not just for some people it's for all people it's not just proclaimed in a moment of time it's an eternal gospel the one message proclaimed throughout all history and the way that it's summarized is in terms that do make sense in any age of any human history in any place it's a message that would have made sense to Abraham and his family it's a message that summarizes the book of ecclesiastes to fear god and keep his commandments this is the whole duty of man it's a message that made sense in jesus day and the bible tells us that jesus himself feared the lord it's a message that spread like wildfire through the book of acts it's a message which when it was received by the people so the fear of god grew and it's the message that makes great sense today it's the message as he summarizes it the eternal gospel and he's saying there is a god who made you and everything in it he is the creator of the world and so he will judge the world and so you must give him glory and worship him and you should fear him the eternal gospel is striking for its simplicity it's straightforwardness and it's striking for its firmness can you see that it's not really an invitation is it can you notice it is a command
[56:43] it's not a gospel just of warm and friendly reassurances it's a gospel which demands a response from people and it warns them of what they will face if you refuse this command it is a gospel it is good news to be obeyed it is a gospel about god the god who made us it is about a gospel about a god who will call us to account god who deserves and requires our worship and this is what the angel calls the eternal gospel and in the end divides all of humanity into two groups the redeemed and the harvested and it's this message that calls on the world to fear the lord to see him for who he really is and give him glory not just because he demands it though he does but because he deserves it and that is very critical in the first um two sermons in this series i was outlining outlining why the fear of god is good for us uh the fear of god leads to life the fear of god leads to fearlessness but i guess this sermon is about that how the fear of god is good for god because it leads to glory and not primarily ours but god's when we fear the lord it brings glory to god fearing him is good for us yes i've been arguing that but even more fundamentally it is right it is right because god deserves to be glorified he deserves to be glorified by our fear it is right because he is everything the bible tells us that he is listen to how the redeemed put it in the very next chapter look at chapter 15 and verse 3 and they sing the song of moses the servant of the god servant of god and the song of the lamb saying great and amazing are your deeds oh lord god the almighty just and true are your ways of king of the nations who will not fear you oh lord and glorify your name for you alone are holy all nations will come and worship you for your righteous acts have been revealed who will not fear you oh lord and so let me try and draw a few threads together if there is so little fear of god in the world and yet god deserves the glory that comes to him when people fear him and if there is a day coming when all those who refuse to fear him will be swallowed up by his righteous anger because they've kept the glory for themselves that rightly belongs to him and if god has placed in our hands and in our message in our hearts a message a message that can save them a message that can see you rescued a message that can see them transformed transferred from the harvestage to the redeemed what should we do if we have this eternal gospel what as a church should we do well it's not a very hard question to answer is it we should share this message we should preach this gospel listen to how the apostle paul put it in 2 corinthians chapter 5 and verse 11 he says this since then we know what it is to fear the lord we seek to persuade people and he goes on from there to describe the ministry that was entrusted to him and therefore has been entrusted to all those who fear the lord and are compelled by his love and it's a ministry that is shaped by this gospel by this eternal gospel and so as i conclude i want to say three things about the ministry in the world to which this
[60:49] church and the church which i serve and every faithful bible preaching church is called to and so firstly preach fear preach fear when i use the word preach i i don't necessarily mean giving sermons if you've got the opportunity to give sermons then great but most of us don't but all of us have an opportunity to give an account for the hope that we have and we all have opportunities to share with others what it means that we've been redeemed there may be opportunities for conversations tomorrow or long emails that could be written or letters if you still write letters and there may be opportunities for a carefully chosen sentence but as we take those opportunities we have to remember that this is the gospel that we've been given and we are not free to change it and given the fate of those around us i can't really understand why we'd want to change it the people who we know and who we love who aren't redeemed need the warning that the gospel brings they need its command and so we as churches should be faithful to it and when we have the opportunity to say so gently of course respectfully of course we should tell people that there is a god who made them and that he is their creator and he will judge all the world and so all must give him glory all should worship him as he rightly deserves all should fear him for who he is and they should fear the the judgment that one day will unfurl and we should invite them to come and to fear him for his mercy and to tremble as well at his grace now if we're going to preach fear we need to to be careful and so secondly we preach it fearfully a message that is this serious ought to be handled seriously a message that is this grave should be declared with gravitas a message about the fear of god should be delivered with trembling there is no place for glib or trite telling of the gospel there is no place for the word hell being used lightly it's one of the reasons why we eliminate phrases don't we like what the hell or how the hell we don't say that as christians the message from god is not to be joked about nor is it to be communicated arrogantly or triumphant and triumphantly or carelessly but if we have occasions to speak of the judgment of god tears this should not be far from our eyes someone told me that they were in washington dc recently and they saw on the thomas jefferson memorial the following quote from jefferson engraved on it he said this i tremble for my country when i reflect that god is just and that his justice cannot sleep forever do you tremble for yours do you tremble for this island that his justice cannot sleep forever if revelation 14 is true how can we not tremble how can we fail to quake for the men and the women and the boys and girls of harris and lewis and scotland and london
[64:54] who live their thankless lives delighting in the things that god has made and yet ignoring the one who made them destined in the end to discover that it was all too late and they should have feared him do you tremble for your country the eternal gospel as we call on people to fear god we should be very conscious of the horrific train wreck that we're seeking to prevent by speaking the words of life fear god and give him glory for the hour of his judgment has come and when we preach fear we should preach it fearfully but finally we should also preach it fearlessly it's not a contradiction is it of course both are true we should preach it fearfully because of the danger those who are in whom we speak but we should preach it fearlessly because we have no reason to be embarrassed of the message that can bring them rescue for i am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of god to salvation first to the jew and then to the gentile i wonder what you pray for your children before and they go out to school it's often a good test isn't it what do you pray for your grandchildren pray that they'll have a good day it's a good thing pray they'll be they'll work hard it's a good thing pray that they'll be protected it's a good thing but we must pray for our children isn't it we pray that they will never be ashamed of the gospel of jesus christ because there's nothing to be ashamed of jesus urged his disciples to face the inevitable physical persecution bravely don't be afraid of them and this was a command that many of them chose to follow even the apostle paul who was himself wasn't he do you remember he was a great opponent of the gospel but he came to be a fearless preacher of the gospel and when he wrote his new testament letters it's really interesting how he asked people to pray for him i think it's a really interesting thing how congregations pray for their preachers often they pray in very super spiritual terms but the apostle paul didn't he urged prayer and fearless preaching so ephesians 6 19 and 20 let me read this to you pray also for me that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which i'm an ambassador in chains that i may declare it fearlessly as i ought to speak and he was delighted when he heard of others that they were doing the same so philippians chapter 1 verse 14 and because of my chains most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear and the bible reminds us that we have nothing to fear from those who oppose us and we have nothing to be embarrassed about in our gospel and so when we preach it we should preach it fearfully but we should preach it fearlessly with conviction and courage and urgent zeal because those who are not redeemed both here and in the furthest corners of the globe they have no hope unless they learn to fear him and that is in itself isn't it the great reason to preach fear fearlessly but can i give you a better reason on that as i can finish we should preach fear fearlessly because god deserves his glory whether or not those to whom we speak ever repent
[68:59] whether or not they ever thank us for the gospel or insult us for doing so whether or not we live or we die we will call on people to fear god and give him the glory because god's glory is utterly utterly deserved in a world where there is so little fear of god the god of all glory is honored when his redeemed people fearfully fearfully and fearlessly preach the gospel fear god and give him the glory because the hour of his judgment has come let's pray father the weight and the seriousness of these words weigh heavily upon us they make us squirm in fact so much so that it would be easier for us to think about many other things and for us to quickly move on but we pray that you would make us brave not to do that and that you would allow our hearts to be captured by the weight of these truths and you would allow our lives to be by the power of your holy spirit shaped by them thank you for entrusting to us your church a message that has the power to rescue people from the wrath that is to come help us to be responsible with it help us to speak seriously and fearfully of it because of how fearful your judgment is but help us to speak of it fearlessly because we have no reason to be ashamed and because you are and you always have been and you always will be worthy of your great glory worthy of your power and holiness and justice and grace and forgiveness and so we ask by the power of your holy spirit that you would write these things on our hearts in jesus name amen we're going to sing psalm 130 psalm 130 and after we've sung this psalm would you remain standing um for the benediction psalm 130 lord from the depths to thee i cried my voice lord to thou here and to my supplications voice give an attentive here lord who shall stand if thou o lord should march to iniquity but yet with the forgivenesses that feared thou mayest be a of the benediction psalm a of the benediction psalm a a of the benediction psalm a of the benediction psalm a of the benediction psalm a of the benediction psalm a of the benediction psalm a
[72:13] To thee I cry, my voice for to thou hear.
[72:25] Unto my Son, in patience voice, give thou thou chanted hear.
[72:43] Lord, who shall stand in power, O Lord, truth's mark iniquity?
[73:01] But yet with thee forgiveness is that fear thou mayest be.
[73:20] I'll wait for long, my soul doth wait.
[73:32] My hope is in this word. More land, may that for morning watch, my soul waits for the Lord.
[73:58] Are you saved or found? May that to watch, the pouring light to see.
[74:17] Let Israel open the Lord, for with their mercies be.
[74:37] And let Jesus' redemption is ever found within.
[74:55] And from all his deliquities, the Israel shall redeem.
[75:14] Amen. Amen. Amen. People of God, lift up your heads and lift up your hearts and receive the benediction of God by faith. The Lord bless you and keep you.
[75:26] The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.