[0:00] Well, good morning everyone and a very warm welcome to our morning service. It's good for us as some of brothers and sisters to be once again back in church to worship and to praise God.
[0:17] And we also welcome those who are in the comfort of their homes watching and listening to the morning service. We pray that it will be richly blessed to all of our hearts and souls.
[0:28] A couple of intimations. The evening service will go out just before 6 o'clock as usual online. And Wednesday 7.30pm the prayer meeting on Zoom.
[0:43] And it's very encouraging to see all who gather for that meeting. So let us worship God together. And Adam is going to sing for us in Psalm 95.
[0:56] Psalm 95 verses 1 to 7. That's six stances. Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord. Come, let us, everyone. A joyful noise make to the rock of our salvation.
[1:10] Verse 7. For he is our God. For he is our God. The people we of his own pasture are. And of his hand the sheep today. If ye his voice will hear.
[1:22] We'll sing. Well, Adam will sing these verses' voice. O come, let us sing to the Lord.
[1:35] Come, let us, everyone. A joyful noise make to the rock of our salvation.
[1:51] Let us be for his presence. Come, with praise and thankful voice.
[2:05] Let us sing psalms to him with grace. And make a joyful noise.
[2:18] For God, our great God and great King, Above all gods he is.
[2:31] Depths of the air are in his hand. The strength of hills is his.
[2:42] To him the spacious sea belongs. For he the same did make.
[2:55] The dry land also from his hands Its form at first did take.
[3:07] O come and let us worship him. Let us bow down with all.
[3:20] And on our knees before the Lord, Our maker let us fall.
[3:31] For he's our God, The people we of his own pasture are.
[3:44] And of his hand the sheep today, If ye his voice will hear.
[3:56] Let us now unite our hearts and minds in prayer.
[4:07] Let us all pray. O most gracious and ever-blessed God, We thank you for the privilege you have afforded us To gather one with another in the courts of your house On this your own holy day.
[4:26] This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. It is a day that reminds us once again That the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Rose triumphant over death and the grave And that he is alive forevermore In the power of an endless eternity.
[4:49] We thank you Lord that we can come. In the words of the psalmist when he was saying, O come, let us worship him.
[5:02] Let us bow down with all. And on our knees before the Lord, Our maker let us fall. O Lord, that you would humble us this morning And that we would indeed take the place that pertains to us At your footstool.
[5:20] That we would be found looking away from our selfish selves and desires. And that we would be looking more and more unto thee, The one who has done such wonderful things for us.
[5:35] When you, O God, in the fullness of time, Sent the darling of your bosom, The Lord Jesus Christ, Into this sin-stained and depraved world.
[5:48] And that to seek sinners such as we are. And we thank you Lord that when your time here on earth was over, And your ministry was complete, That you went steadfastly to Calvary's cross.
[6:03] And in our place and in our stead, You laid down your life, A ransom for us. And we cannot even begin to think, Or to contemplate, The horrors and the anguishes and the pain and the suffering That you went through, For each one of us.
[6:29] And we thank you this morning, That the cross at Calvary's hill is empty, And that the grave is empty, And that Jesus rose triumphant on the third day, That he ascended up into the highest heaven, And that he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, And that this very moment he is interceding on our behalf.
[6:55] And we thank you Lord that we can approach you, At the mercy seat where Jesus answers prayer, There humbly fall before his feet, For none can perish there.
[7:10] We thank you Lord that we can come to thee with all our worries, And all our concerns, And that we can cast our burdens upon thyself, Knowing that you are the God who is more than able to do for us, In us and through us, Above anything that we could ever ask or think.
[7:31] We thank you Lord for all you have done for us, The way you have helped us, You have guided us, You have sustained us, You have upheld us, And our Lord the many blessings and mercies, That we receive from your hand, Every morning your blessings are new to us, Oh how wonderful is your faithfulness, And Lord we have to confess time and time again, How unworthy we are of even the list of them, But praise be to your holy name, That mercy is with you, And we thank you for the opportunity, That we have that we can come with boldness, To the throne of your grace and of your mercy, That we may receive mercy, And grace to help us in our time of need, And you know Lord our time of need, Is every moment of every day, Without you Lord we are nothing, And we can do nothing, But when you are with us in the passion of the Holy Spirit,
[8:34] We are enabled to do all things, And we pray Lord that you would undertake, For each one of us this morning, We pray for all those who need you, In special ways, Those who are laid aside, On beds of illness, At home or in hospital, We pray Lord that your healing hand, Would be upon each one, And especially those, Who are still outwith the fold, Oh gracious God, You are the one who is able to heal the soul, As surely as the body, And as we have been hearing, Over the last few days, About those who have been, Informed of illnesses, And we pray Lord, And our heart go out to them, That you would be very near to them, At this time, And that you would, Help them, And guide them, And lay your healing hand, Upon them, If that be your will, And those who are concerned, For their health,
[9:37] We pray for them, And we bring them to you, And we commit them to you, Knowing that you are the God, Who cares for them, We pray for all those, Who mourn the loss of loved ones, In the days and weeks, And months, Even the years gone by, When the sores may be just as, As painful as ever they were, Lord you are the one, Who is able to comfort them, And we pray that you would encircle them, With the arms of your love, And that you would indeed, Do for them above, Anything we could ever ask, Or think, We pray Lord, For all those, Who are still out with the fold, Our young, Old, And middle aged, In our own home Lord, And in our families, In our villages, And in our neighborhoods, In our beloved islands, And highlands, Yes Lord, Even to the ends of the earth, Men, Women, Boys and girls,
[10:38] Oh gracious God, That you would, Draw your sons from afar, And your daughters, From the ends of the earth, That we would see, Your kingdom extended, With power, That we would, See that your name, Glorified and lifted up, Your people blessed, And the kingdom of darkness, Brought low, Oh Lord, We pray this morning, For your persecuted church, Throughout the nations, Of our world, When many of our brothers, And sisters, Are persecuted, For your namesake, Some of them, Are cast into prison, Some of them, Are brutally tortured, Others are killed, But oh Lord, We pray, That you would strengthen them, That they would be steadfast, In their faith, And in their witness, For thee, And that you, Oh God, Would help them, And guide them, Sustain them, And uphold them, And work mightily, Through them,
[11:39] Bless our congregation, We pray, We thank you Lord, For all you have done, For us, Down through the years, Even to this present day, You have been, Our help in, Ages past, You are our hope, For times to come, And we thank you Lord, That all, What we have, And concern us, Are in your hands, And we would not, Decide it to be, Anywhere else, But in your blessed hand, And we pray Lord, That you, Would remember us, The old, Of our congregation, Who may be more, Vulnerable, And who are not able, To come out, At this time, We pray, That you would, Bless them, Where they are, And that you would, Undertake for them, In all of their needs, And all others, Who need you, In special ways, We commit them to you, Remember our minister, Your servant, Who is proclaiming, Your word, In God of us,
[12:39] This morning, We pray the unction, Of your spirit, To be upon him, And that you would, Bless him, In all that he puts, His hand to, We thank you, For his faithfulness, To your word, And to your cause, And we ask, That you would, Bless him, In his home, And in his family, In the pulpit, And amongst the people, And the flock, You have given him, To shepherd, And we ask, Lord, That you would, Bless each one of us, And in the midst of, Covid crisis, And, All we see, On your television screens, The many thousands, That have been swept, Into eternity, In these past months, And Lord, In the midst of, All the sorrow, And gloom, That we see around us, We are thankful, That it's a ray of joy, In this week coming, When our brother Ian, A, And Mahela, Are going to get married,
[13:40] In this, We pray Lord, That you would bless them, As they begin, Their married life together, That you would, Uphold them, And sustain them, And bless them, In all that they would do, And we remember, Little Miriam as well, We pray your blessing upon her, And in her young, And tender years, That she would come, To know you, And trust you, And love you, And now Lord, We pray that you would, Take this service in hand, And that you would, Help us in all, That we say and do, And along with the psalmist, Of all that we could say, Not unto us Lord, Not to us, But do the glory take, And to thy name, Even for thy truth, And for thy mission's sake, Hear us in your prayers, And continue with us, And pardon graciously, All our sins, We ask it in Jesus' name, And for his sake, Amen.
[14:38] Now boys and girls, Some of you here today, And better not forget, Those who are watching, And listening at home, It's good to see some of you here, And I've got a question for you today, How many of you, Have ever said, Or done, Anything, That you were ashamed of, And you didn't want, Your mommy, Or daddy, Or anyone, To know, Anything about it, There's one, Honest, You don't have to tell me, What it is, But, And it's nice to see, That you're honest, Know their hands up, Oh yes, Mature student there, Is for his hand up, I'm sure, I know you've done, A lot of things, I'll tell you boys and girls, I have said, And done,
[15:40] Lots of things, That I am truly ashamed of, If I was to stand here, And I was made, To tell you, All the things I've done, And said, I would just, Cringe down into the floor, But, I've got something here, I'm going to show you, Now, I don't know, If you, Recognize what this, Crude thing is, Does anyone know, What that is, Or what it's supposed to be, Maybe if I did, This, Catapult, There you are now, I'm glad somebody got that, I tried to get that catapult, And, One of my daughters, Ordered one for me, Ten days ago, But I'm supposed, It will come tomorrow, When I don't need it, But this here, Is a, A crudely made, Homemade catapult,
[16:42] Now I'm going to tell you, A wee story, It's about a wee boy, Called Kenny, And, And, He went to visit, His granny, And grandma, One day, And after lunch, Grandpa, Gave him, One of those, To go on, Target practice, Out in the woods, So, Kenny went out to the woods, And, He was firing away, At the target, And, As the old saying goes, He could not, Hit the barn door, Holding the handle, He could not, Hit the target, And finally, He got so, Annoyed with himself, And he got fed up, And he said, Ah, I'm just a wee home, So, On the way home, What did he see, But, Grandma's, Pet, Duck, Do you know what,
[17:44] Out came, The catapult, Put a pellet in, And, He fired, And do you know what, He hit, The duck, In the head, And he killed her, Oh man, What am I going to do, He was, He was, Sorry, He was afraid, He had, Lots of mixed emotions, And, He didn't know, What to do, So anyway, There was a pile of wood, And he got the duck, And he hid it, Under the pile of wood, And when he stood up, Here was his sister, Emily, Now, No, I'm not, Taking any names,
[18:45] This was what was in the story, Any cannies in here, No can, All right, So here was Emily, Watching him, You know, As, As, Ladies are, Here, Watching, And she just, As if to say, I saw what happened, So they went home, To lunch, And after lunch, Grandma said, Emily, I need you, To wash the dishes, And tidy up with me, And Emily said, Grandma, Kenny told me, He would like to wash up, And she said to her brother, Isn't that right, Kenny?
[19:27] Remember, The duck, And so, Kenny, Did the dishes, And the tidying up, And, Later on, After dinner, Grandpa said, Children, Would you like to go fishing?
[19:45] And, Grandma said, Oh, Grandpa, I need Emily, To prepare supper, With me, To help me, And, Emily says, Oh, Grandma, Kenny told me, He would like to help you, To prepare supper, Isn't that right, Kenny?
[20:06] Remember, The duck, And so, Emily went fishing, With Grandpa, And Kenny, Stayed at home, Preparing the supper, With Grandma, And this went on, For several days, Until Kenny, Got a bit fed up, Of, Doing all his own chores, As well as Emily's, And then, One day, He came to Grandma, And he said, Oh, Grandma, I'm so sorry, I killed your duck, And Grandma said, She went down on her knees, And she gave him a big hug, And she said, Oh, It's all right, Sweetie, I know, I was standing, At the window, And I saw it all happen, But I wanted, I waited,
[21:07] To see, When you would, Stop, Letting, Emily, Rule your life, When you would stop, Being a slave, To Emily, And you know, Boys and girls, There is someone, At the window, Of heaven, Watching, You and I, Just now, Do you know, Where that is?
[21:35] God, Is standing, At the window, Of heaven, He's looking down, Upon us, Here just now, And he sees, Everything that we're doing, And everything that we say, And even the thoughts, That we think, He knows, He knows, He knows, All about it, And just as surely, When Kenny, Came to grandma, And he told her, What he had done, And how sorry he was, So when you, And I, Come to Jesus, And we say to him, Lord Jesus, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, For all my sins, And you know, Jesus will say, Oh my dear, Dear child, I love you so much, And I forgive you, Just as grandma, Forgave Kenny, So Jesus forgives, Each one of us,
[22:36] When we come to him, Confessing your sins, And seeking to be cleansed, Now boys and girls, You remember that wee story, God is watching, From the window of heaven, And he sees, And he knows, Everything that we do, And say, And what we think, Okay, We'll have a wee prayer, Oh gracious God, We thank you for the children, Who are with us here, This morning, And those who are watching, In the comforts, Of their own home, We pray Lord, That you would bless, Each and every one of them, That you would guide them, And keep them, In their young and tender years, And that you would help them, To come to yourself, That they would tell you, The things they have done, And when they come to you, Asking for your forgiveness,
[23:38] You are more than, Happy and willing, To tell them, Your sins that are many, Are forgiven, Because I love you so much, We pray Lord, That you would keep them safe, In their playing, And in their school time, And as they go to Sunday school, Just now, We pray that you would, Speak into their young hearts, And souls, And that they would learn, Something new, About you, This morning, Bless their mamies, And daddies, And their grandpas, And grannies, And all who love them, And care for them, And look after them, And we pray Lord, That they would come, To know you, And love you, And sell you, And to be used to you, In your church, So bless them, And go before us, And prepare each of one of us, For whatever you have in store, And forgive us our sins, For Jesus' sake, Amen.
[24:36] I think the boys and girls, Are going to Sunday school now, Amen. We'll read a portion of God's word now, In John chapter 19, John chapter 19, At the beginning of the chapter, Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, And scourged him, And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, And put it on his head, And they put on him a purple robe, And said, Hail, King of the Jews, And they smote him with their hands, Pilate therefore went forth again,
[25:37] And saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, That ye may know, That I find no fault in him, Then came Jesus forth, Wearing the crown of thorns, And the purple robe, And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man, When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, They cried out, Saying, Crucify him, Crucify him, Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, And crucify him, For I find no fault in him, The Jews answered him, We have a law, And by our law he ought to die, Because he made himself the son of God, When Pilate therefore heard that saying, He was the more afraid, And went again into the judgment hall, And saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou?
[26:36] But Jesus gave him no answer, Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me, Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, And have power to release thee?
[26:53] Jesus answered, Thou couldst have no power at all against me, Except it were given thee from above, Therefore he that delivered me unto thee Hath the greater sin, And from thenceforth Pilate saw to release him, But the Jews cried out, Saying, If thou let this man go, Thou art not Caesar's friend, Whosoever maketh himself a king, Speaketh against Caesar, When Pilate therefore heard that saying, He brought Jesus forth, And sat down in the judgment seat, In a place that is called the pavement, But in the Hebrew, Gabbatha, And it was the preparation of the Passover, And about the sixth hour, And he saith unto the Jews, Behold your king, But they cried out, Away with him, Away with him, Crucify him, Pilate saith unto them,
[27:55] Shall I crucify your king? The priests answered, We have no king but Caesar, Then delivered he him, Therefore unto them to be crucified, And they took Jesus, And led him away, And he bearing his cross, Went forth into a place, Called the place of a skull, Which is called in the Hebrew, Golgotha, Where they crucified him, And two other with him, On either side one, And Jesus in the midst, And Pilate wrote a title, And put it on the cross, And the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, The king of the Jews, And then again at verse 28, After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, That the scripture might be fulfilled, Saith, I thirst, Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar, And they filled a sponge with vinegar,
[28:57] And put it upon hyssop, And put it to his mouth, When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished, And he bowed his head, And gave up the ghost, Amen, And God will bless to us, The reading of his own holy, And inspired word, Let us bow, For a word of prayer, Before we come, O gracious God, I thank you for the privilege of, Being your poor and humble servant, This morning, And as I stand before your open word, I pray, Lord, For the help and guidance, Of your own Holy Spirit, I acknowledge that without you, That I can do nothing, And I pray,
[29:58] Lord, That you would take this service in hand, That you would make a glorious name for yourself, Out of my weakness, And that all the glory, And the praise, And the honour be yours, And the blessing be ours, As we wait upon thee, Hear us, And answer in peace, And forgive our sins, For Jesus' sake, Amen, Our text this morning, Is taken from Luke's gospel, Chapter 14, And the end of verse 17, Come, For all things, Are now, Ready, Ready, What an invitation, There has never before, Or after, Been an invitation, Like this one,
[31:00] And this invitation, Is extended, To each one of us, Here, This morning, Make no mistake, About it, This is a personal invitation, It's for you, And supposing you've been, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, Walking with Christ, The invitation, Is for us, To come, And renew, Our fellowship, And our walk with him, And if you're here, This morning, And you still have not, Given your heart to Jesus, Then the invitation, Is especially, For you, So make no mistake, This invitation, Is for you, What does the invitation, Consist of, When, When Jesus,
[32:00] Jesus laid down, His life, On the cross, Of Calvary, He took, Your sins, Past, Present, And future, He took them, Into his own, Body, On the cross, And set you free, He granted you, The gift, Of the Holy Spirit, Through God, The Father, He will adopt you, Into this family circle, When you depart, The sin of this time, And you will enter, The glory, Of heaven, Where the psalmist, Says in, Psalm 16, Verse 11, Thou wilt me show, The path of life, Of joys, That is full store, Before thy face, At thy right hand, Are pleasures, Evermore, Three points, I want us to briefly, Consider this morning,
[33:03] And the first point, Is, The invitation, Is simple, It is, Come, A small word, But coming from the lips, Of the Savior himself, It is one of the most, Powerful, Words, In the whole, Of scripture, Isaiah chapter, One, And verse 18, Says, Come now, And let us, Reason together, Saith the Lord, Though your sins, Be like scarlet, They shall be white as snow, Though they be red, As crimson, They shall be, As wool, And you know, A lot of people, Are of the belief, That this invitation, Could never be for them, They see themselves, As not being good enough, And they're not ready, And God,
[34:04] Would never, Look, Look, Look, Look, The way they were, Because of their sins, I am so sinful, And so onward, And you know, That is true, About every one of us, But what does Jesus say, In Luke chapter 5, And verse 32, I came not, To call the righteous, But sinners, To repentance, And that is you, And me, No matter how vile, And how awful, Our sins might be, The blood of Jesus Christ, The righteous Son of God, Shall wash all our sins away, Notice the small word, All, It means the sins we have committed, The sins we are committing, And the sins we are yet to commit,
[35:08] They are all washed away, If we come, To Jesus, Believing, And trusting, In his finished work, Now that does not give you, And me, A license, To do, And say, As we please, No, We are to live, Our lives in a way, That is pleasing, And honoring, To God, But as frail, Human beings, So often, We fall short, Of what God, Would want us to be, And I remember, If I can be personal, In my younger days, I used to love, The dance hall, And I used to love, The house callies, I'm not going to go into it, But, They were totally different, To the kind of parties, That, People would have, Never days, But when Jesus,
[36:10] Came into my life, The very things, That I loved so much, Were what I pushed, Further to the side, Further away, Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, And verse 17, Therefore, If any man, Be in Christ Jesus, He is a new being, All things, All things, Are passed away, Behold, All things, Are become new, The Shagalik hymn, I'm not sure, If it was, The Harris blacksmith, In Goa, That brought it, Or not, But in Galic, The hymn goes, Literally,
[37:12] Speaking, It means, I have an old man, Which depicts, Sin, And the world, And I've got a new man, Which depicts, The new life, In Jesus Christ, The old man, Is behind me, And is trying to drag me, Back into the world, The young man, The new man, Is going ahead of me, Leading me on, To better things, The old man behind, Is blinding my eyes, Trying to blind me, From the things of God, And the new man, Is taking, The scales of the eyes, So that I can, See more clearly, What God has done for you, The old man, Is never far away, From any of us, And the apostle Paul, Himself, Was very much aware, Of that fact,
[38:13] When he said, In Romans chapter 7, And verse 19, For the good, That I would, I do not, But the evil, Which I would not, That is what I do, Now if I do, That I would not, It is no more, I that do it, But sin, That dwelleth, In me, And we are all sinners, And we all, Need to come to Jesus, And to ask, For his forgiveness, And that, His precious blood, Would cleanse us, All, Cleanse all our sins away, And there are those, Who will say, And I have actually, Heard people say this, Well there is nothing, I can do, If I'm going to be saved, I'm going to be saved, Anyway, Is that right?
[39:15] Well no, It isn't, Romans chapter 10, And verse 13 says, For whosoever, Shall call, On the name of the Lord, Shall be saved, So we are to do something, We are to pray, We are to ask, God, For forgiveness, We are to plead, For his mercy, And we are to trust, That Jesus would indeed, Have mercy upon us, There was once a young man, And he approached, A wise old professor, Who was in a distinguished, University, And with great, Pressure, He informed, The old professor, That he, The fondly cherished, Desire of his heart, Had been fulfilled, He was to study, Law,
[40:17] And the old professor, Was very happy, And glad for him, He congratulated him, And he said to him, When you finish your studies, What do you intend to do, And the young man said, Oh, I shall take my degree, And then, Said the professor, Then I shall get difficult, Law cases, And I'll get fame, And honor, And then, Said the professor, Prompting him, Then I shall get promoted, And I'll get rich, And have lots of money, And then, Yes, Indeed, What then?
[41:07] Supposing you accumulated, All the riches the world, Can afford you, And you lose your own soul, You would be poorer, Than the beggar in the street, The riches of this world, Will decay, And fade away, But accept, Jesus' invitation, To come to him, Ask him to give you, A new heart, That would see him, In a way, That you never saw him before, Ask him to create, Within you, A right spirit, That would enable you, To worship him, And praise him, And glorify his holy name, Now my friend, That is riches, Riches that will never fade away, Riches that will never decay, And if you have those riches, Toward God, You have nothing to fear,
[42:09] On the day of judgment, And the second point, We have this morning, The invitation, Is solid, All things, Are now ready, God, Has already done, Everything necessary, To make, Your salvation, Possible, He did it, All when he sent, His beloved son, Jesus, To die, On the cross, Of Calvary, Died, Died for your sins, And mine, And you know, We cannot begin, To contemplate, The anguish, And the excruciating pain, And suffering, That Jesus endured, To satisfy, Divine justice, We have to remember, That Jesus, Was a perfect, Human being, As well as being,
[43:10] The spotless, Son of God, He had the same, Physical needs, And feelings, That we had, He felt pain, Thirst, Hunger, Sorrow, Joy, Jesus went through it all, He was the same, As us, Except, He had no sin, In the garden, Of Gethsemane, Jesus sweat, Great drops of blood, Now we need to be careful here, With the doctors around, There's the term, Hermatidrosis, I think is the way, You pronounce it, It is a rare, But very real, Medical condition, That causes, One's sweat, To contain blood,
[44:12] The sweat glands, Are surrounded, By tiny vessels, That can constrict, And then dilate, To the point, Of rupture, Causing blood, To effuse, Into the sweat glands, The cause, Is extreme, Anguish, And Jesus, Anguish, Was extreme, In the garden, Of Gethsemane, As he fervently, Prayed the father, That the cup, He gave him to drink, Would pass by him, But he also prayed, Nevertheless, Not my will, But you, Be done, Your own sins, And mine, Were compacted, Into that cup, And if it was, Only my sins,
[45:14] In that cup, It would be, More than enough, But the sins, Of every forgiven, Soul, In the whole world, Was in that cup, Is it any wonder, That Jesus, Recoiled in horror, But it was, The father's will, To bruise him, And the son, Complied, With the father's desire, In the gospel, Of John, Chapter 13, Verses 21, To 30, Our time, Will not let us, Read that, But you can, Look at it yourselves, Jesus, Very plainly, Makes note, Who would betray him, Into the hands, Of his enemies, And we all know, That it was, Judas Iscariot, Can you spare, A thought, For poor Judas, Who betrayed,
[46:15] His master, With a kiss, Judas, Along with the other, Disciples, Who had witnessed, The wonderful miracles, That Jesus performed, The amazing, Healing touch, That Jesus had, When he, Healed, Those who were, Sick, Leprosy, Blindness, People who were dumb, People who were lame, And Judas, All these wonderful, Miracles, Water being changed, Into wine, The dead being, Raised to life, And yet, For a few, Meansly pieces, Of silver, He was happy, To betray, His saviour, Poor Judas, The amazing,
[47:22] Healing touch, Of Jesus, And the glorious, Way in which, Jesus proclaimed, The unsearchable, Truths of the gospel, A way, In which, No man, Before or after, Was able to do, Mark, Chapter 14, Verse 21, One says, The son of man, Indeed goeth, As it is written of him, But woe to that man, By whom the son of man, Is betrayed, Good were it for him, That he had never been born, And after Judas had betrayed, Jesus, The people Jesus had preached to, Namely the Pharisees, The scribes, The elders, The Jews, They took him away, Took him away, For a mock trial, They drummed up, Forced witnesses, To testify against him, They beat him, With their bare hands, They spat at him,
[48:25] They dressed him, In fine purple clothing, Depicting an earthly king, They put a crown, Of thorns on his head, Spikes that dug into his scarves, Spikes that were probably six inches long, And they pressed him down into his head, Until his blood flowed, And they mockingly bowed, The knee to him, And they beat him, With whips, That had bits of sharp bone, And metal, Sown into the thorns, And every stroke of the whip, And every stroke of the whip, Was ripping Jesus' back, To shreds, His back was like a ploughed, Filled, And when they were tired of whipping, And mocking him, They made him carry his own cross, To Calvary's hell, But because of the measureless whipping,
[49:30] And beating, And loss of blood, Jesus collapsed under the weight of the cross, And the Roman soldiers found a man called Simon of Cyrene, Who carried the cross for him, And the Roman soldiers hammered spikes, Into the fleshy part of his palms, And his ankles, And they lifted him up, Between heaven and earth, And when they dropped the cross into its socket, His hands and his feet were torn, And his blood flowed, Death by crucifixion was barbaric, It was a horrendous death, Death by crucifixion was barbaric, And they lifted him up,
[50:32] Between heaven and earth, And they waited, Glutingly, For the end, The hymn, Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
[50:43] Were you there when they nailed him to the cross? Well, physically, We were not there, But our sins, Yes, You and mine, Helped to hammer those spikes Into his hands and into his feet, Was it our sins that kept Jesus on the cross?
[51:13] No, It was his blessed love for each one of us that held him there, All praise his name, Jesus had the power to come down from the cross, But if he had, You and I would still Be lost and dead in our sins, And there would be no hope for us, He laid down his life, So that we could have life, And have it in all its fullness, What a Savior!
[51:57] Oh, my friends, No one ever suffered in the way that Jesus suffered, And although his physical pain was excruciating, His pain in spirit and in soul was even more so, And none more than when God the Father Turned his face away, And Jesus cried out, My God, my God, Why hast thou forsaken me?
[52:32] Matthew 27 and verse 46, Did God the Father really forsake the Son? Well, no, God the Father and the Son, Members of the Trinity, They could never forsake one another, But I believe, That God the Father, Turned his face away, Because Jesus was bearing the sins of the world, And God was of purer eye, Than to look upon sin, He could not look on his son, On his son, As he bore your sins, And my sins, In his body, On the tree of Calvary, What a glorious Savior!
[53:21] Is he your Savior this morning? Can you say, Along with the hymn writer, O Christ in thee my soul hath found, And found in thee alone, The peace, The joy I sought so long, The bliss till now and now, Now none but Christ can satisfy, None other name for me, Thish love and life and lasting joy, Lord Jesus, Found in thee.
[53:58] And the final point we have this morning, Is the invitation is urgent, It is now. God has done everything necessary, To provide us salvation, He is ready, He is willing to save, But he wants us, To move.
[54:24] If you are still left with the fold of Jesus Christ, Jesus wants you to move, He wants you to come to him, His arms and his hands are stretched out and open, And the time to come is now.
[54:45] 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 2, Behold, now is the accepted time, Behold, now is the day of salvation.
[54:57] Do not put it off until tomorrow, Because your tomorrow may never come. Down in Liverpool, I'm sure everyone is proud of the lifeboat and its crew.
[55:18] Now I don't know who the cockswain of the Liverpool lifeboat is, But we are all very proud of these brave men, That go out in all kinds of weather, To help those who are in distress.
[55:36] The distress call, I'm sure will be, Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, Followed by the message, And with all due respect, That boat, That boat, As soon as it leaves, The harbour will take anything between two hours, Three hours, Five hours steaming, Depending on the distance they have to travel.
[56:07] Heaven's lifeboat was launched at Calvary, And it's been sailing the oceans of time ever since, Searching for perishing souls.
[56:29] The cockswain of the heavenly lifeboat, Is the Lord Jesus Christ. The distress call is, Lord, Be miserable unto me, A sinner.
[56:47] The response, Is immediate. Soon as Jesus hears the call, He is there by your side.
[56:59] Do you have to stop trying, To save yourself? And you need to call out to him, Lord, Save me.
[57:15] Oh, my friend, Don't play about with your eternal destiny.
[57:31] The Jesus who is saying to you this morning, Come, And you keep putting off, You keep fobbing him off, One day he will say, Depart from me, For I never knew you.
[57:52] What a sad day that will be, If you have sat, If you have sat under the preached word, Five years, Ten years, Twenty, Fifty years, You have not been moved, By what Jesus has done for you.
[58:19] What a sad day that will be. The heavenly lifeboat, At this very moment, Could be, Pulling away from you, For the last time.
[58:36] Could be over the horizon, Very shortly. Won't you call out the distress signal, Lord, Be merciful, Unto me, A sinner.
[58:51] He will be there for you, In an instant, And he will never let you go. We may lose our hold on him, But he will never, Lose his hold on us.
[59:08] He will sustain you, He will uphold you, He will do in you, And through you, What you thought, Would be never possible.
[59:21] And along with, Horatius Bonner, You can also say, And it will be this hymn, We will sing at the end, I heard the voice, I came to Jesus as I was, Weary, And worn, And sad, I found in him, I found in him, A resting place, And he has made me glad, A wee story to finish off with, A young lady, Attended the morning service in church, And the minister felt, Moved, That the Lord was urging him, To speak to this young lady, And after the service, And after the service, Was finished, The minister approached this young woman,
[60:23] And he urged her, To give her life to Jesus, Without delay, Come to Jesus, The minister urged, And she angrily replied, No, But I will come, In the evening, And between that time, And the evening service, Something terrible, Happened, That young lady, Was killed, In a car accident, When she said, No in the morning, God, Silled, Her fit, Forever, What, My friend, Are you doing, With the invitation, That God is sending you, This morning,
[61:24] He is saying to you, And to you personally, Come, For I have prepared, All things, For you, And all who come to him, He will never, He will never, Cast out, Amen, Dear God, Be pleased, To bless, Anything, In the mindset, Of the spirit, Let us pray, You, For you, Oh, Most gracious, And merciful God, We do indeed, Thank you, For your word, This morning, And for the invitation, You have sent us, When you are saying, To us, To come, Come unto me, All ye that labor, And are heavy laden, And I will give you rest, Oh gracious God, That you would make, Each one of us wise,
[62:25] That we would flee, From the wrath to come, That we would flee, To the open arms, Of Jesus, To find, Mercy, And grace, To help us, In our time of need, And we pray, Lord, That each one of us, Would be found, Making your calling, And our election sure, Taking hold, Of the one good, And needful thing, That shall never, Be taken away from us, In this life, Not in the life to come, Oh, That each one of us, Would be found, Coming to thee, For tomorrow, Is not promised, Any one of us, The time to come, Is now, Oh may it be so, Lord, For each one of us, Bless us, We pray thee, And go before us, Into this week, That is opening up, Before us, Keep us safe, In all that we would do,
[63:28] And keep us true, To thyself, Humble at your footstool, Always looking to thee, The author, And the perfecter, Of our faith, Hear our prayers, And cleanse us, From our sins, For Jesus' sake, Amen, Amen, Adam will now sing for us, Hymn 212, In the red book, I heard the voice, Of Jesus say, Come unto me, And rest, Lay down, The weary one, Lay down, Thy head, Upon my breast, Hymn 212, I heard the voice, Of Jesus say, Come unto me, And rest,
[64:29] Lay down, The weary one, Lay down, By head, Upon my breast, I came to Jesus, As I was weary, And worn, And sad, I found in him, A resting place, And he has made me glad, I heard the voice, Of Jesus say, Behold, I freely give, The living water, Thirsty one, Stoop down, And drink, And live, I came to Jesus,
[65:33] And I drank, Of that life-giving stream, My thirst was quenched, My soul revived, And now I live in him, I heard the voice, Of Jesus say, Of Jesus say, I am this dark world's light, Look unto me, Thy moon shall rise, And all thy day be bright, I looked to Jesus, And I found in him My star, My sun, And in that light of life, I'll walk, Till travelling days are done.
[66:34] And now may grace, Mercy and peace, From God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, One God blessed forever, Rest on and abide with us all, And with all those whom we love and hold dear, And with all of God's people everywhere, This day forth and forevermore, Amen.