[0:00] well let me begin this service by saying a happy new year to all who are tuning in probably doesn't sound very good but happy new year and every blessing it's good for us to be able to come together at the beginning of a new year and to seek to worship God in this way we're going to begin this time of worship by singing to God's praise in Psalm 121 a psalm that causes us to lift our eyes from ground level to lift our eyes to look to the God who is the maker of heaven and earth who is the savior of sinners who is the one who sustains us and who walks with us into this new year I to the hills will lift mine eyes from whence doth come my need my safety cometh from the Lord who heaven and earth hath made
[1:16] I to the hills will lift mine eyes from whence doth come my need my safety cometh from the Lord who heaven and earth hath made thy foot he'll not let slide nor will he slumber that the capes behold he that keeps Israel the Lord the Lord the Lord thy shed on thy right hand doth stay the the moon by night the moon by night thee shall not smite nor yet the sun by day the Lord shall let's go the moon by night the sun the dead house whom my love dam Matthew chief the his
[3:25] Going out and in, God keep forever well.
[3:42] And now I'm going to ask John McSween, one of the elders here, to lead us in prayer in Gaelic. And then after that, boys and girls, I hope you're watching, I hope you're listening.
[3:53] Stay alert because John's going to share a message, a children's talk he's got, especially for you, after he leads us in prayer in Gaelic.
[4:03] So John will now lead us in prayer, please. Stephen Many after all the people are in Tetris.
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[6:18] Fort Worth is the wheel attached to the不ness of the land. Now allowing the staff to drive their hearts and more disabled, Thank you.
[6:58] Thank you.
[7:28] Thank you. Thank you.
[8:28] Thank you. Thank you.
[9:28] Thank you. Amen.
[10:02] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[10:14] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[10:26] helping the men of the neighbourhood, painting their boards and I would bring in brushes to them and paint and Spanish and they did maintenance on their engines.
[10:41] But then the time was coming close and I had to go to school. I was very happy before I went to school.
[10:56] The day wasn't long enough and the morning couldn't come quick enough so that I would get back down to the boards. But then the boys that were older than me and were in school were telling me about what was going on in the school.
[11:14] All those on the island were coming together between the years of 5 to 10, between 5 and 15 and they were in the school.
[11:27] There were teachers in the school. Most of them had two classes. But the teachers were very thorough and I thought quite hard.
[11:40] And they told me that the teacher had a leather belt and that they weren't lazy in using it and that it was getting aired every day.
[11:53] And when I heard about this, this was a different world to the world I was living in. And when I heard about the teachers and the bit of spin they put on the story, I thought that the teachers didn't belong to planet Earth, that they came from some other planet.
[12:17] But I went to school that day and I was keeping my eye on the teacher. And after we said the morning prayer and then a Bible reading, she put us in line.
[12:33] The girls at one end of the line and the boys at the other. And she asked us what would we like to be when we grew up.
[12:45] And of course the girls wanted to be nurses and teachers. The girls then were as they are now aiming very high as all the boys know.
[12:59] They were aiming high and the nurses were nicely dressed in their uniforms. And the teachers were nicely dressed too. They didn't like the overalls and the wellies at all.
[13:13] They wanted higher than that. But the boys were quite happy as long as it had to do with the sea at that time. They wanted to be fishermen and sailors.
[13:25] They wanted to make a difference. But the teachers. And I was at the end of the line and many things passed through my mind before the teacher asked me the question.
[13:37] Well, what I was thinking I was a child. And I spoke as a child. And I stood as a child. And I thought as a child.
[13:47] and my thoughts were, if I stay like a little boy like this, I won't be very helpful to anyone. I need to grow up.
[13:58] I'm not really worried whether I'm a fisherman or a sailor as long as I grow big and strong to pull anchors and row boats and stocked engines.
[14:12] This was the thoughts I had when the teacher asked me, what would you like to be, John, when you grow up? And I said, I would like to be a man.
[14:25] And the teacher laughed. And then I thought, perhaps the teachers belong to planet Earth after all. And then I thought, if I would see tears in her eyes, I would believe indeed that she came from planet Earth.
[14:44] But I left school and I said, no tears in their eyes. But little did I know that what I said that day, 40 years afterwards, that a minister from Maroon Island, Norman McSwain, who retired to Stoneway, would tell this story in a child's address or a children's address.
[15:13] He said if he had been in school that day, he would have left too. But then there was more to my answer than what caught his mind at first.
[15:27] So he said, and that Pontius Pilate said, when Jesus, and he presented him to the crowds, after the soldiers had put a crown of thorns on his head and dressed him in a purple robe, he said, behold the man.
[16:00] This was the man that was above every other man. This was a perfect man. This was Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to seek and to save that which was lost.
[16:15] He was the one that was a friend of little children. When the disciples were wanting the parents to keep the children away from Jesus, he said, suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[16:40] He was the one that restored Jairus' daughter back to life when she was only 12. And the widow's son, he came back from death too, by the word of Jesus.
[16:57] And also his good friend Lazarus, when he called on his name after being four days dead, he rose triumphant over death too.
[17:13] And he was the one that healed the sick. He was the one that opened the eyes of the blind. The ears of the deaf were able to hear again and the dim were able to speak.
[17:30] He would heal the lepers. He would touch the untouchable. There was no one on earth like Jesus Christ. But he came to this world to seek and to save that which was lost.
[17:47] We were all dead in trespasses and in sin. But he had to go to our cross on Calvary to suffer for us so that we would have a life that was worth living and a death to look forward in the end.
[18:06] And the boys and girls, it's good to aim high and to have good work in this world and to enjoy your employment.
[18:16] But the main thing is, what will we be like when we grow from little boys and girls to men and women?
[18:27] And to be the best men and women is to put our trust in the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And we can do this from a very young age.
[18:42] And we'll go on with Jesus. Those that are on Jesus' side are the winners in the end. And those that are not, they are losers.
[18:54] And I hope each and every one of you will grow up and that you'll be a delight to your parents and to your teachers.
[19:06] I went to school at five and I went away from school at 15 or so. And you know, the school wasn't as part of what I thought.
[19:19] And I remember the first day, first time I left home to go to work on the mainland. Standing on the fisherman's jetty, waiting for the boat to take me to Talbot and away on the sea for that 12 o'clock at night.
[19:40] As I looked back at the school and remembered the happy days I had there and the nice teachers I had there. And the nice boys and girls that were there.
[19:54] I thought of the happy days I had there. And now I was going on to the, you know. But the Lord helped me and gave me strength until this day.
[20:07] And I hope that you boys and girls will put your trust in Jesus. And those that put their trust in Jesus will not regret it.
[20:18] May this new year be a year that you'll enjoy and that you'll have fellowship one with another and that you'll rejoice because Jesus is living and he intercedes for you at God's right hand.
[20:37] May the Lord bless you all and your teachers and your school and all your friends. Thank you. We'll pray for a moment.
[20:48] Lord God, we thank you for your word and we thank you for John, your servant. We thank you for his testimony of your faithfulness to him from the time when he was a wee boy until he became a man.
[21:03] We thank you for your son. We thank you that he has walked with you and continues to walk with you. And we pray for the young ones, the boys and girls in the Sunday school and the boys and girls in this community.
[21:14] We pray that they would see Jesus, the perfect man, the one who came to be our saviour. And we ask, Lord, that the little children, that they would come to Jesus, that we would not hinder them, but that we would encourage them to, in their early years, come to know and trust and walk with their creator.
[21:37] And we thank you, Lord, that as they and as we do that, we have a God who walks with us through each step of the way, a God who is faithful to the very end.
[21:50] So hear our prayers for our young ones. May they walk this year close with you as we pray that each one of us would walk close with you, trusting you and obeying you, being happy in Jesus as those who are in Christ.
[22:08] We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to sing now to God's praise and we will sing from Psalm 116, verses 1 to verse 6.
[22:20] I love the Lord because my voice and prayers he did hear. I, while I live, will call on him who bowed to me his ear. Of death the cords and sorrows stood about me compass round. The pains of hell took hold of me, a grief and trouble found.
[22:33] Upon the name of God the Lord, then did I call and say, Deliver thou my soul, O Lord. I do thee humbly pray. God merciful and righteous is, yea, gracious is our God.
[22:44] God saves the meek. I was brought low. He did me help afford. These verses we sing to God's praise. I love the Lord because my voice and prayers he did hear.
[23:06] I, while I live, will call on him who bowed to me his ear.
[23:17] Of death the cords and sorrows did about me compass round.
[23:28] The pains of hell took hold on me, I, grief and trouble found.
[23:39] Upon the name of God the Lord, then did I call and say, Deliver thou my soul, O Lord.
[23:57] I do thee humbly pray. God merciful and righteous is, yea, gracious is our Lord.
[24:13] God saves the meek. I was brought low. He did me help afford. We'll turn now to God's word and we'll read from Genesis chapter 9.
[24:31] Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea that are given into your hands.
[24:49] Everything that lives and moves will be food for you, just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.
[25:02] And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal and from each man too. I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.
[25:14] Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God has God made man. As for you, be fruitful and increase in number, multiply on the earth and increase upon it.
[25:29] Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, I now establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you. And with every living creature that was with you, the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you.
[25:44] Every living creature on earth, I establish my covenant with you. Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood. Never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.
[25:57] And God said, this is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you. A covenant for all generations to come. I have set my rainbow in the clouds and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
[26:12] Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.
[26:26] Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth. So God said to Noah, this is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.
[26:45] The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. These were the three sons of Noah and from them came the people who were scattered over the earth.
[27:01] Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside.
[27:16] But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father's nakedness.
[27:30] When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, Cursed be Canaan, the lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.
[27:42] He also said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem. May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth. May Japheth live in the tents of Shem and may Canaan be his slave.
[27:57] After the flood, Noah lived 350 years. Altogether, Noah lived 950 years. And then he died. Amen.
[28:08] And may God bless that reading of his word to us. And I will hear the well-known hymn sung, Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.
[28:27] Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.
[28:41] The darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide.
[28:56] Abide with me, when other helpers fail and comforts fail.
[29:12] Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.
[29:28] Swift to its close, ebbs out life's little day.
[29:43] Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away.
[29:54] Change and decay in all around I see.
[30:05] O thou who changest not, abide with me.
[30:18] I need thy presence, every passing hour.
[30:33] O thou who art, but thy grace can foil the tenter's power.
[30:44] O like thyself, my guide and stay can be.
[30:55] O cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.
[31:07] O deed and sail pope with me. O yours has Macken & Spain, or how тех can harbor pass away. O upgrades that API word have gone O counting down the game. O pedals have no may, O fish can a decay now and shaver bear. With me at hand to bless Hills have no weight And tears no bitterness Where is death's sting Where grave my victory I triumph still If thou abide in me Hold thou my cross With hope my closing eyes
[32:08] Shine for the gloom And point me to the sky Heaven's morning breaks And earth's vain shadows flee In life, in death O Lord, above me Just as we turn back now to God's word, let's once more ask God for his help as we pray.
[33:00] Lord God, we thank you for your word. We thank you that you do not leave us in the dark, but you have given us the light of your word. We thank you that you have given us the Holy Spirit to be our teacher.
[33:15] And we ask, Lord, that we would know his help in reading, in preaching, in listening, in responding. May you move amongst us where we are.
[33:25] May we have our eyes opened and our ears unblocked to see and to hear the words and the works of Christ.
[33:35] May we have our eyes opened and the light of our eyes opened and our ears unblocked to see and the light of our eyes. May we have our eyes opened and heard the words in the light of your eyes. So hear our prayers. Help us, Lord, in this New Year's Day to acknowledge you in all our ways and to know your direction, your guidance on our path as we go forward.
[33:56] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Probably one of the most influential Christian writers and preachers of all time was the great reformer John Calvin.
[34:14] And he, with a number of others, like Martin Luther, preached the doctrine of grace, the grace of Jesus in all its fullness.
[34:26] He preached that we are saved not by our shabby good works that are not very good at all, but that we're saved through the perfect, finished, saving work of Jesus.
[34:40] Calvin and Luther preached that we are saved not by our religious efforts and the rituals that we follow, but rather we're saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
[34:57] And we have many accounts of how these men like Calvin preached, how clearly, how winsomely, how courageously they preached the gospel.
[35:12] But we know from history that they suffered for that. Calvin suffered for that. He was preaching through Romans with his congregation in Geneva, but because of his commitment to preaching the gospel of Jesus, he was removed by force from the city of Geneva.
[35:34] He was banished from the church that he was banished for three years. And on his return, after that three-year period of absence, you can imagine the anticipation amongst the congregation.
[35:51] What would he say after all this time away? What would he say after all the experiences and the hardships of his time away? Would he share these experiences?
[36:03] Would he tell of what he had gone through? And the answer to these questions that would have been in the pews were that he said nothing about his time away.
[36:17] He shared nothing on that first day back of his experiences of being banished. What he did, rather, on the first Sunday that he was back in his pulpit was he simply continued to preach from the chapter and verse that he'd reached three years previous.
[36:38] And the message I think Calvin was communicating there was clear, and it was this. The world may change.
[36:51] Our circumstances may change. We may go through hard times, as Calvin did. But God and his word does not change and remains relevant for every day and every situation and every place.
[37:10] And I think that's an encouraging fact to think about as we begin a new year. We sang in the hymn just before the sermon, Change and Decay in All Around We See.
[37:25] And I think as we look back on 2020, as we tend to do on the first day of a new year, we can look back and think about a year where we encountered an uncomfortable amount of change.
[37:41] We experienced circumstances that we had never known before in what was a difficult year. But the God we worship, the God who speaks to us through his word, he does not change.
[38:03] Jesus, our Savior, our Lord, he is the same yesterday and today and forever. And so the passage that I want to look at just for a brief time this morning is Genesis 9.
[38:19] We were in Genesis 8 at the end of 2020, so it seems right that we turned to Genesis 9 at the beginning of 2021.
[38:29] And there's three points that I want to share from this chapter, three things that I'd like us to see as we just very briefly look over the surface of this chapter.
[38:44] And the first thing we see is the faithfulness of God. And to underline that truth, we're given a sign of God's faithfulness. It's a sign that Noah saw thousands of years ago, and it's a sign that we and God still sees today in the skies that we look up to.
[39:06] It's the sign of the rainbow. And God said, verse 12, This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come.
[39:19] I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant, says God, between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.
[39:35] Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.
[39:51] So God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on earth. So we have this sign.
[40:04] And the Lord makes so plain, through the repetition in these verses, that this rainbow, it's a sign of his faithfulness, of his covenant with his people.
[40:16] Now I know there are perhaps maybe some even watching this morning who will say, Well, the rainbow is not a sign. The rainbow is, let me get this right here, the rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction, and dispersion of light in water droplets, resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky, which takes the form of a multicolored circular arc.
[40:46] That's what a rainbow is, some people would say. And I wouldn't dispute that. That's how a rainbow works. But we need to remember that a rainbow works for God.
[41:01] As we sang at the beginning of the service, God is the, he is the maker of heaven and earth. We lift our eyes to the one who made heaven and earth, the one who made the rainbow.
[41:17] And the rainbow works for God. It reminds him of the everlasting covenant he made with us. And it reminds us of God's faithfulness and his willingness not to push us away, but to call us into covenant relationship with him.
[41:45] We look at Noah and his family in this section within Genesis, and we see that Noah and his family, they were in that covenant relationship with God. They walked with God. They trusted the word of God.
[41:58] They entered into the ark. They escaped the judgment that was coming. They received the salvation that God had provided in and through the ark. They were in relationship with God.
[42:12] Covenant relationship. And maybe I could pause to ask the question at this point. Are you, are you in relationship with God? Yes, we, we know that God exists as we open scripture.
[42:27] We may have a belief that God is the creator of heaven and earth. We may have the belief that he is the savior of all those who, who believe in him.
[42:43] We may have an understanding of the cross. But do we know God? That's the question I want to ask.
[42:54] God offers us a relationship with him. He doesn't want us just to know about him in some theoretical way.
[43:06] but he wants us to know him as the personal, living, saving, sustaining God. Now we have many opportunities, I suppose, in the course of life to enter into relationships with, with people.
[43:24] We will have the opportunity sometimes to enter into business relationships. relationships. We may have opportunities to enter into romantic relationships or friendship relationships.
[43:37] But on the cusp of these relationships, we're always asking the question, is this person trustworthy? Will this person be faithful to me if I step into a relationship with them?
[43:50] And the point I want to make in this chapter is our God is faithful. Our God, the one, two, living God, he is faithful.
[44:05] He can be trusted. We sometimes sing that well-known hymn, what a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear, what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.
[44:17] Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
[44:29] We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
[44:42] Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer. We cannot find a friend who will be as faithful as Jesus.
[44:58] Our God is the God who is faithful. He is trustworthy. So let's hold on to that.
[45:12] We don't know what we're walking into in terms of the year 2021. We had no idea what we were walking into this time last year.
[45:24] And we still don't know what we're walking into in the year 2021. But we do know that the God who offers to walk with us, the God who wants us to enter into that relationship with him, he is faithful.
[45:38] And he will hold us as we walk step by step with him. So that's the first thing we see in this chapter.
[45:49] We see the faithfulness of God. The second thing that we see in this chapter is the failure of God's people. Now for those in the congregation, we've spent the last few weeks of 2020 watching Noah.
[46:07] We're actually watching him quite closely. And Noah as a character, he's an impressive man. He's a real man of faith. We learn from Scripture and we see as we look at his lifestyle that he walked with God.
[46:22] He talked with God. He was obedient to God. Even in the most extreme circumstances, he is obedient to God.
[46:33] When God told Noah to begin building an ark in the middle of nowhere with no water to be seen for miles around, with not a cloud in the sky, when the plan seemed absolutely nonsensical, because God instructed it, Noah obeyed.
[46:55] And day by day, for 120 years, we see Noah on the building site as he constructs this ark. He obeys God.
[47:06] He is obedient. So Noah, as we look at his spiritual CV, you know, it's remarkable when we think about the consistency of his life and his witness.
[47:22] And yet, after all that, in terms of consistency and brightness and steadiness as a man of God, we find Noah in Genesis 9 in a sad state.
[47:36] He's drunk. He is naked. He's passed out in a tent. Malcolm McLean makes the comment on this chapter and on this sorry circumstance.
[47:54] Previous grace does not prevent future failure. Noah has received and he is shown much in the way of previous grace and yet we find him at this point in a state of failure.
[48:13] Matthew Henry says this. He says, sometimes those who with watchfulness and resolution have by the grace of God kept their integrity in the midst of temptation have through security and carelessness and neglect of the grace of God been surprised into sin when the hour of temptation has been over.
[48:35] Noah who had kept sober and drunken company is now drunk and sober company. And so Matthew Henry says, let him that thinks he stands take heed.
[48:50] So we see the failure of Noah. We see the failure of Noah as one of God's people and then if we look at his family situation it's shambolic also. His son Ham he shows his father no honour and respect.
[49:09] And when his father falls into this sin he makes much of it. Whereas his brothers when they discover what their father has done they rightly they want to cover his shame and not to expose it and make light of it.
[49:26] and laugh at it. And it strikes me that that's maybe a good point of practical application for us to take into a new year.
[49:38] In this new year we can be sure that we will see sin in us and around us. But when we see people fall and fail as Noah did we're not to gloat we're not to laugh we're not to gossip around the place and call others to look in on the failure of this person but rather we're taught here to seek to cover the person who has fallen and failed in prayer in loving concern.
[50:22] John MacArthur says it's easy to gossip about a person who's fallen into sin or hardship and it can even make us feel better about ourselves but God wants his people to cover each other's shame not expose it.
[50:38] Brethren if a man is overtaken in any trespass you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness considering yourself lest you also be tempted.
[50:55] That's what Paul said in Galatians chapter 6 verse 1. 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 8 Peter who had fallen so publicly so disgracefully he said love covers a multitude of sins and he had known the love of the Saviour he had known the love of God's people love covers doesn't cover up but it covers in love and prayer a multitude of sins and we see sin here we can't we can't but see sin in the life of Noah here and yes it's sad but I also think it's one of the most encouraging things about the Bible the failures of God's people are not airbrushed out but they're left in
[51:59] Oliver Cromwell I think it was when he was having his portrait painted was said to have shouted out to the artist he was doing the painting paint warts and all and that's what God does is he gives us these pictures of his people he paints the warts and all Noah was a great man of faith but even he failed and we can look at all the disciples we could do a survey through the gospels and we see failures we see mess we see sin it's like looking in the mirror because we see ourselves and I think this is a good and realistic way to begin a new year acknowledging the fact that God's people we fail we fall you and I may have made resolutions likely we'll break them soon and if we are
[53:11] God's people although we don't want to sin we will certainly be found saying at points within this year what the apostle Paul said in Romans 7 and verse 19 he said for what I do is not the good I want to do no the evil I do not want to do this I keep on doing it's a confession it's an admission of failure and the reality is and John spoke of this in the children's talk there is no one who lived a perfect sinless life except Jesus we all fall we all fail and I think knowing that keeps us humble it keeps us alert to a devil who wants us to fall and fail and it keeps us looking to Jesus and depending on his grace and that in my opinion is a good way to set off into a new year we see the faithfulness of God firstly we see the failures of God's people and finally we see once more the faithfulness of God we go back to the beginning and we see the faithfulness of God even in the fact that the story doesn't end here yes Noah fails but God doesn't strike him off the list
[54:54] God doesn't strike his name from the record in fact if we fast forward to the great gallery of those who live by faith in Hebrews chapter 11 we see Noah's name very firmly there so we ask the question how was Noah who sinned who failed how was he forgiven and how was he restored how was his sin cleansed and the answer is Jesus and you might say but Jesus hadn't come yet and that's true but Noah's sin was paid for on credit you know how that works we sometimes go into a shop and we buy the thing that we're about to buy whatever it is you give them your credit card you haven't paid for the thing yet you've just handed over your credit card and you've made through this credit card a promise that you will pay in the future and here with Noah and we could think also about the psalmist
[56:11] David and his catastrophic sin and all the people of God in the Old Testament who fell and who failed and who made a mess of things all the sins that we see as we track through the Old Testament as we look at God's people all these sins would be paid for not by them but by Jesus if they were trusted in the Saviour to come and yes there were sacrifices and yes there were sin offerings but these were just more signs that pointed to the faithfulness of God in sending Jesus to be our Saviour he is the one who would be the perfect sacrifice he is the one whose life as it was laid down would make atonement for all our sin 1 John chapter 1 verse 8 to 9 says if we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us if we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness and with that in our minds we can we can sing in just a moment what can wash away my sin nothing but the blood of
[57:56] Jesus what can make me whole again nothing but the blood of Jesus oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow nothing but the blood of Jesus and so again as we think about these things we see the faithfulness of God a faithfulness that took God the Son to the cross he was faithful to the cross so that we like Noah may be forgiven so as we step out now into 2021 I pray that we do so with that assurance of the faithfulness of God that we are reminded of almost every day as we look into the sky and as we see God's rainbow doesn't belong to anyone else it's God's rainbow and I pray that as we step out into 2021 we step out with the with the realisation that we are failures we will fall we do fail we will sin as Noah did but because
[59:21] God is faithful there is forgiveness there is salvation there is restoration and never ending hope for all who are trusting in the blood of Jesus and we'll sing now two hymns what can wash away my sin nothing but the blood of Jesus and then we'll sing our sins our sins there are many but his mercy is more what can wash away my sin nothing but the blood of Jesus what can make me whole again nothing but the blood of Jesus oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow no other fount
[60:35] I know nothing but the blood of Jesus for my cleansing this I see nothing but the blood of Jesus for my pardon this might be nothing but the blood of Jesus oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow no no other flames I know nothing but the blood of Jesus nothing can for sin at all nothing but the blood of Jesus nothing but the blood of Jesus nothing but the blood of Jesus nothing but the blood of Jesus oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow no other fount
[62:05] I know nothing but the blood of Jesus nothing but the blood of Jesus this is all my hope and peace nothing but the blood of Jesus this is all my righteousness nothing but the blood of Jesus nothing but the blood of Jesus nothing but the blood of Jesus oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow no other fount I know nothing but the blood of Jesus nothing but the blood of Jesus now by this I'll overcome nothing but the blood of Jesus now by this
[63:11] I'll call my home nothing but the blood of Jesus nothing but the blood of Jesus oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow no other fount I know nothing but the blood of Jesus the blood of Jesus oh oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow no other fount I know nothing but the blood of Jesus but the blood of Jesus but the blood of Jesus but the blood of Jesus the blood of Jesus the blood of Jesus the blood of Jesus the blood of Jesus the blood of Jesus and the blood of Jesus and the blood of Jesus what love could remember no wrongs we have done omniscient all-knowing he comes not their song thrown into all sea with their bottom more sure ever since they are many his mercy is more praise the
[64:50] Lord his mercy is more stronger than darkness is stronger than darkness new every morn our sins they are many his mercy is more what patience would wait us we constantly roam what father so tender is calling us home he welcomes the weakest and the darkness knew every think Michael has the able this and verse they can use the who come the
[65:58] Stronger than darkness, new every morn. For sins they are many, His mercy is more.
[66:18] What riches of kindness He lavished on us. His blood was the payment, His life was the cost.
[66:31] We stood, He's a debt we could never afford. Our sins they are many, His mercy is more.
[66:44] Praise the Lord! His mercy is more.
[66:57] Stronger than darkness, new every morn. For sins they are many, His mercy is more.
[67:08] Praise the Lord! His mercy is more. Stronger than darkness, new every morn.
[67:26] For sins they are many, His mercy is more. Praise the Lord!
[67:39] His mercy is more. Stronger than darkness, new every morn.
[67:53] For sins they are many, His mercy is more. For sins they are many, His mercy is more.
[68:05] Stronger than darkness, new every morn. And, Lord, our Heavenly Father, We thank you for your word.
[68:21] We thank you that as we look at this passage of Scripture, we see the faithfulness of who you are. you are the God who entered into covenant with your people even though your people sinned and fell and failed we thank you that you you showed mercy that you continue to to hold out your hand to your people we thank you for the the old covenants that we see the signs that are that are given to us throughout the old testament that speak to us about your faithfulness and speak to us about the savior the one whose blood would be the seal of the new covenant whereby we who sins are many are able to receive the the wonder of the the mercy of God and to know the amazing grace that is offered to us in and through Christ so enable us Lord we pray at the beginning of this new year to to trust you knowing that you are absolutely trustworthy to be honest about who we are to be always coming to you confessing our sin and looking in faith to Christ the Savior you think of the words and make shame for every look you take itself take 10 looks at Jesus may that be a pattern that we follow as this year goes on we pray for those who may be anxious about this year as it begins those who find this time of year a difficult time enable them we pray enable each one of us to to trust you with everything to believe and to know that as we do lay out before you all our worries all our concerns all our anxieties that you are able to take these burdens and to carry them for us what a friend we have in Jesus all our sins and griefs to bear what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer may we be found this year carrying everything constantly to you in prayer knowing that you are the God who hears our prayers and who answers us to help us we pray to fix our eyes now upon Jesus and now we pray that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit would rest upon and remain with us all and all those whom we love both today on this new year's day and forevermore amen happy new year merry Christmas and happy new year everyone happy new year everybody happy new year happy new year happy new year happy new year merry Christmas and a happy new year happy new year happy new year
[72:34] happy new year happy new year Merry Christmas and a happy new year.
[72:53] Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
[73:23] Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.