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[0:00] Good morning and a warm welcome to the service this morning. Those who are visiting, I see a few visitors with us and it's good to have you, it's good to see you. If you're able to stay behind at the end of the service, there's tea and there's coffee and it would be good to get the chance to meet and to enjoy fellowship. The intimations have been on the screen before the service began. I don't think there's too much out of the ordinary if I'm and I'll just maybe scroll through them. I don't think I've seen them yet this week. I think it's a fairly normal evening service at six and the ladies' fellowships are back up and running there. You've got details. Little Fishers on Tuesday morning, Road to Recovery on Tuesday evening. Prayer meeting on Wednesday at half past seven and the prayer meeting this coming Wednesday, Stuart King will be taking the prayer meeting. I'm away for a couple of days for meetings in Edinburgh, so Stuart will take the prayer meeting and any other notices, Amma? The service is next Sunday. Morning service taken by myself, God willing, and the evening service will be a Gaelic service. There's an evening fellowship after the half past seven next Sunday night, so we'll give details of, a bit more details about that next Sunday. Be encouraged just to come out to the evening service, please, and the prayer meeting. It's good to see so many on a Sunday morning and it would be good to see many on Sunday evening and Wednesday evening as well. The word for church in the Bible is the word that means gathering of people. Not the building, not the structure, the architecture of a place.

[1:58] It's the gathering of people and we do that together. We do that physically. So be encouraged to come together. You'll never know how much encouragement your face and your presence brings to those who are sitting around you as we gather together in worship. I know we've got used to coming with a cup of tea in our hands. If you want to bring it, you can bring it. But come along and let's worship God together. And we'll begin our time of worship just now and we'll sing to God's praise. The words will be on the screen in just a moment. Mission Praise 51, Be Thou My Vision, O Lord of My Heart.

[2:37] Be Thou My Vision, O Lord of My Heart. Be Thou My Vision, O Lord of My Heart.

[3:01] Be Thou My Vision, O Lord of My Heart.

[3:31] Be Thou My Vision, O Lord of My Heart.

[4:01] Shield sword for the fight. Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight.

[4:13] Thou my soul, sheltered, Thou my high tower. Raise Thou the heavenward, O power of my power.

[4:29] Richest I heed not for man's empty grace. Thou mine inheritance now and always.

[4:44] Thou and the holy, first in my heart. My King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.

[5:00] My King of heaven, the victory won. May I reach heaven's joy so bright and sun.

[5:15] Heart of my own heart, whatever before. Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

[5:31] Some of you read the little verse for the day that comes up on the Facebook page.

[5:49] I'm just going to read the verse in a wee extract that came from the meditation on it this morning. I don't write it, it's something that's shared on the Facebook page. But the verse for today comes from 2 Chronicles 7, verse 14.

[6:05] Where God said, And there's the highlight there in the meditation.

[6:25] Sometimes very small words are really important. And the word if is one of these important words.

[6:35] If my people will pray. This is a very important lesson for us to learn. It says, We all sin in one way or another.

[6:46] This is true personally, but also true at a national level. But if we repent and turn from our sin and pray, Then God will hear from heaven.

[6:57] He will forgive our sin and heal our land. How desperately we need to take that to heart at this present time. Our broken society needs to come to God, Confess our sin, repent of it and leave it.

[7:14] And then we can expect God to forgive us and to bless us. So with these words of meditation that have been shared with us, Let's pray.

[7:31] Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that as we come together on this, your day, We come and we gather around your word.

[7:43] We thank you that you're the God who makes us. You're the God who sustains us. You're the God who speaks to us. And we thank you that also you have given us prayer, Whereby we are able to speak to you.

[7:58] And we thank you for the promise that is highlighted for us in these verses this morning. That if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves.

[8:12] If they will seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, Then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

[8:23] And we confess, Lord, that we are all sinners. We are sinners by our nature which has fallen. We are sinners in our practice.

[8:36] And our sin ever comes up before us. And we know that our sin is a grievance to the Holy Spirit who lives in us if we belong to you. We know that our sin holds us at a distance from you, Lord.

[8:50] But we thank you that Jesus came into the world to seek and to save sinners. We thank you that Jesus came into this world, the Lamb of God, Who came with that determination, with that mission, To take away the sin of the world.

[9:09] And we thank you that Jesus went to the cross, That he became sin, That he took the curse of our sin into his body on the tree.

[9:22] And we thank you that we have the assurance, the promise, That if we look to him, If we make him our vision, If we confess our sin, If we repent of our sin, If we seek that salvation, that healing, You will heal our hearts.

[9:40] You will cleanse us. You will grant to us that salvation. Which is something that is offered to us personally. As we come to Jesus one by one.

[9:53] And say, Heal my heart. Forgive my sin. Make me yours. And yet we thank you that this promise Is a promise that is not just for us as individuals, But this is a promise That comes to us as a nation.

[10:12] And as all nations. That if your people Will call upon your name, If we will pray, You will hear And you will heal. So we pray, Lord, As those who are part of the nation, We don't stand back from the nation As if we are without guilt.

[10:32] We see the decay. We see the brokenness. We see the distance that we are from you. And we pray, as Daniel did of old, That you would have mercy upon us as a nation.

[10:45] That you would cleanse us from our sin. That you would awaken those who are dead And who have no sense of spiritual life. No soul thirst for you at this time.

[10:57] And we do not look down upon such people Because you are the God Who awakens the soul. We cannot awaken the soul. And so we cry out to you, Lord, That you would awaken.

[11:10] That you would stir. And where we are your people, We pray that you would touch us With that reviving power. That we would not be those who are content To follow at a distance.

[11:23] To slip back. But we pray that we would run the race As the Apostle Paul spoke of. In order to win the prize. That we would seek each day To have a close walk with God.

[11:35] We pray that we would be those Who make it our chief end. Our first desire to glorify God. And we thank you that when That is our aim, That is joy.

[11:47] That begins in time. And is known eternally. To hear our prayers. And help us, Lord, As we pray for ourselves. As we pray for our nation. As we pray for all nations.

[11:59] We ask, Lord, That the gospel would go forth in power. And that the name of Jesus Would be heard across all of the world. We pray for those who are working In translation.

[12:11] To try to make the Bible Which is so readily available to us. Available to those who have never Yet heard the name of Jesus. Give them perseverance, We pray in that work.

[12:22] We pray for those that you are sending out To places far from here. And we ask that you would Equip them as you have called them. Just as we pray that you would equip us.

[12:33] That we would be your ambassadors. That we would be salt and light. Whatever it is you have placed us today. We pray for those who are struggling. We are conscious of Some who are battling with addictions.

[12:48] Especially the addiction to alcohol. And as we think of them, Lord, We pray for them. And we ask that you would break These chains of addiction. We pray that they would find A greater affection for Jesus.

[13:05] Than they would that comes from any bottle. So help, Lord, Those who are battling with these things. We pray on for those who are sick. For those who are in hospital.

[13:17] For those who are anxious. Asking questions about Their own physical and mental And spiritual well-being. We pray for the healing touch of Jesus To be upon them.

[13:30] And Lord, we thank you for Answering our prayers. We thank you for the wee ones That we hear in the congregation today. The babies that we have prayed for. That are now filling at our creche.

[13:43] And we thank you for little Nancy Kate. Who's here for the first time today. And we pray your blessing upon her. As we pray your blessing upon all the wee ones Who are here. Enable them, we pray, To know your love for them.

[13:57] In the early years and throughout life. And we pray on for the seed that was planted In the holiday club with the ones Who are slightly older. We ask that the word would go forth In power.

[14:09] And Lord, that that seed in your time Would bear fruit. We ask now that you would Continue with us. Take away our sin. And go before us now.

[14:20] We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Boys and girls, Would you like to come forward, please? Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[14:31] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. I tell you what, I'll move this So you can sit a bit closer.

[14:51] Good morning. Good to see more visitors coming. John Roddy. John O. Daniel come a wee bit So I can see you. And who's hiding behind us? That's Fraser. Fraser, you come out as well So we can probably see you.

[15:04] How's everyone today? Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Two things to show you today. First thing is that. What's this?

[15:18] It's a hammer. When I was shaking people's hand at the door when they were coming in this morning they were looking nervously at me with a hammer in one hand. No one's going to be dozing off today.

[15:34] Tell me this. What do you use a hammer for? For nails. For nails. For nails. What? Your... These nails. No. No. No.

[15:45] These nails. The banging... So what do you... So you use it for nails but tell me a bit more. What do you... What do you just... Do you just like get the nails put them in the ground and bang them in with a hammer?

[15:57] No. You build something. So... That's the thing Michael. So you use a hammer and nails for... Building. For building. Yeah? Or a screwdriver.

[16:08] Better option. A screwdriver is a better option. Says the man of construction. So... But yeah.

[16:19] You can use a hammer and you can use some nails for... For... For building. Is that all you can use a hammer for? No. What else?

[16:30] Breaking nail doors from the back. Yeah. You don't wear black people on the head. No. But... Michael you said it a second ago.

[16:42] You can use it for a building can't you? Yeah. But you can also use it for... For breaking. If you were trying to break down some partitions in a house you might have a...

[16:53] I go with a... You'd use probably a bigger hammer but you're using a small area you might use a hammer or if you're trying to take out nails break something down you could use a hammer as well.

[17:05] So a hammer is a tool and it can be used for building and it can be used also for breaking. Second thing. Yeah.

[17:19] Yeah. Next thing. What's this? It's not a flute. It's a recorder. So what do you use a recorder for?

[17:34] What do you use a recorder for? Henry? For making music. So could you show us how to make... No? Okay.

[17:46] So... You can't hear this but there's a conference going on ground level just now. Michael's just volunteered Kirsty Marie as one who can play Baby Shark on the recorder.

[18:05] So this recorder it's disinfected I haven't touched it or anything. Kirsty Marie can you actually do that? I think I've forgotten. You think you've forgotten? We'll test that at the end.

[18:17] Well it's actually Lois' recorder so she was obviously getting lessons in school. So Lois do you want to come out the front and play a tune in the recorder? I've forgotten them all. You've forgotten them all. I've yet in all my years to meet somebody who can actually play the recorder.

[18:37] These things get handed out to us in primary school. I don't think... Ian can you play the recorder? Come on. Give us a give us a wee tune. Keep the tune sanctified if you can.

[18:53] Mr. Morrison to you. No, no, a tune. No, a tune. That's enough.

[19:12] Thank you. Thank you. So, there you go. You have the proof.

[19:24] A recorder can be used to make music to... I think it was music, wasn't it? Or you can do what most of us do and we can try and play the recorder and all we can actually do is make a horrible noise because it just squeaks and it squawks.

[19:42] So, the thing is a recorder or a piano or a guitar the way it's used depends on the hand it's put in.

[19:54] A hammer if I give this to Michael he's got some construction know-how he can build things up he can do something good with a hammer you give it to somebody like me I'm just going to make a mess.

[20:07] I'm going to break something down. And there's there's a lesson for us in all this isn't there? And the lesson is that we're to put our lives in God's hand.

[20:25] You know if you want to do the right thing with a recorder give it to someone who can play it and they'll make music not a noise. If we want to build up and not break down then we take the hammer and we put it in the hands of somebody who actually knows what they're doing and who can do good things with it and not damage.

[20:48] And God is a God who loves us and he's a God who can use us to do great things if we will put our lives into his hands.

[21:04] Today when we come to the sermon with the older ones we're going to be looking at the disciples. Well partly we're looking at the disciples and eleven of the disciples they put their hands their lives into Jesus' hands.

[21:22] And although they never got things right all the time did God use the disciples? Did Jesus use the disciples to do good things? He did didn't he? I mean our Bibles that we read God used many of the disciples to write the books that we read when we come together to church in the Bible.

[21:43] And yet how many disciples were there? Do you remember? Yeah twelve disciples. And so eleven of the disciples put their lives into Jesus' hands and Jesus used them even though they weren't perfect to build his church and to do good things.

[22:07] And yet there was one of the disciples called Judas and he wouldn't trust Jesus. and so what we could say is the devil took hold of him and he used his life not to build up God's kingdom but to try to break down God's kingdom.

[22:30] He didn't manage did he? Because Jesus is so much stronger than the devil. But the lesson boys and girls for you today is put your life in Jesus' hands.

[22:47] Trust him. Ask him to come into your heart. Ask him to take away your sin and ask him to use your life to build up his kingdom and he can.

[23:02] Some of you guys are actually the best evangelists. Do you know what an evangelist is? somebody who tells other people about Jesus and some of you guys could teach us older ones a lot about how to tell other people about Jesus and God will use you as you give your life to him.

[23:24] So let's pray about that now. Lord God we thank you that you love us and we thank you that you have a plan for our lives. Help us we pray to put our lives in your hands.

[23:39] We thank you that you call us Lord Jesus to trust you and we thank you that when we trust you take our sin away. You release us from the grasp that the devil would want to try and take hold of us with and we thank you that you can bless us, that you can make us happy in our hearts and that you can use us for your glory to do the things that you want to be done even through our lives.

[24:10] So we pray that you would use the boys and girls and we pray that you would use all of us that we would not resist you but that we would put our lives in your hands and say as we'll sing in a minute Jesus all for Jesus all I am and have and ever want to be.

[24:28] So hear our prayers and help us we ask in Jesus name Amen. We're going to sing now. Mission Praise 1075 the words on the screen. Jesus all for Jesus.

[24:40] Jesus all for Jesus all for all I am and all I am and ever want to be.

[25:14] Jesus all for Jesus all I am and thou and ever hold to you may pallet me.

[25:52] I surrender Render these into your hands For it's only in your will that I am free For it's only in your will that I am free Jesus, all for Jesus All I am and have and ever hope to be Okay boys and girls, if you head through to Sunday school now.

[26:49] And we're going to turn in our Bibles to Luke chapter 22 please. Nice to have we as we're back today.

[27:09] It's not so we anymore. Luke chapter 22 and we're reading from verses 1 to verse 23.

[27:35] This is God's word. Now the feast of unleavened bread called the Passover was approaching and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus.

[27:48] For they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered Judas called Iscariot, one of the twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus.

[28:04] They were delighted and agreed to give him the money. He consented and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present. Then came the day of unleavened bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.

[28:21] Jesus sent Peter and John saying go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover. Where do you want us to prepare for it? They asked. He replied as you enter the city a man carrying a jar of water will meet you.

[28:36] Follow him to the house that he enters and say to the owner of the house. The teacher asks where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples. He will show you a large upper room all furnished.

[28:49] Make preparations there. They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. When the hour came Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table and he said to them I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

[29:08] For I tell you I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God. After taking the cup he gave thanks and said take this and divide it among you.

[29:21] For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. And he took bread gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them saying this is my body given for you.

[29:35] Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way after the supper he took the cup saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you.

[29:47] But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. The son of man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him.

[29:59] They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. Amen.

[30:09] And may God bless that reading of his word to us. We're going to sing again now to God's praise. We're singing from Psalm 19 verses 8 to verse 10 in Gaelic.

[30:23] The statutes of the Lord are right and do rejoice the heart. The Lord's command is pure and doth light to the eyes impart and spotted is the fear of God and doth endure forever.

[30:36] The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. They more than gold yea much fine gold to be desired are than honey honey from the comb that droppeth sweeter far.

[30:48] These verses to God's praise. We remain seated to sing and Gaelic. Thank you.

[31:23] Thank you.

[31:53] Thank you.

[32:23] Thank you.

[32:53] Thank you.

[33:23] Thank you.

[33:53] Thank you.

[34:23] Thank you.

[34:53] Thank you.

[35:23] Thank you.

[35:53] Thank you.

[36:23] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[37:27] Amen. And we pray, Lord, for the congregations around us, the different denominations, wherever Christ crucified is preached.

[38:05] We ask, Lord, we ask, Lord, that you would add your blessing, we ask, Lord, that you would add your blessing, that you would build your church. We pray, Lord, that you would add your prayer, Lord, that you would do with us, and we are, and we ask, Lord, that you would add your prayer, and we pray that you would hear the voice of Jesus speaking there, as we pray that you would hear the voice of Jesus speaking here.

[38:29] And we pray that you would hear the prayer, and we pray that you would say, amen. every distraction and help us to focus our mind our thoughts on Christ and we pray this in Jesus name amen conspiracy theories are things which are big news today and I suppose with the internet over the last I don't know how long it's been 20 years probably now conspiracy theories have just multiplied and gained momentum and so we never have to look very far to find a conspiracy theory I glanced at an article from the New Scientist magazine and the journalist wrote this he said think of any major world event and there is almost certainly at least one conspiracy theory to explain it the list is almost endless then he goes on to list a few conspiracy theories the Apollo moon landings were faked 9-11 was an inside job climate change is a hoax JFK was assassinated by the CIA the earth is flat princess Diana was murdered by the royal family and the last one which I'd never heard of before is the world is ruled by lizards apparently all these things are conspiracy theories which are are recognized and have a fair bit of support behind them now we know that very often there is no substance whatsoever to conspiracy theories but we also know that sometimes there can be and as we get back into Luke chapter 22 we've had a few weeks of a break from Luke's gospel but as we get back to Luke chapter 22 as we we really enter the the passion of Jesus this chapter begins with a conspiracy theory and it's a conspiracy theory that did have substance it's a conspiracy theory where we read about those who were in power and authority not civil government but religious government and they were plotting to kill Jesus so the first point today is we see a conspiracy to kill so look at verses one and two the feast of unleavened bread called the Passover was approaching and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus for they were afraid of the people now if on the if we think back to the time into which Luke was writing if the man in the street was told that these religious men these chief priests and teachers of the law these seemingly morally upright leaders if the man in the street was told that these men when they met together they weren't studying the Old Testament scriptures they weren't planning works of social care and justice but they were actually plotting the assassination of Jesus if the man in the street had been told that he'd never have believed it because at this point the crowds were hanging on Jesus words

[42:32] the crowds were flocking to hear this man who preached with such authority if we glance back just to the end of chapter 21 we're given some context we read there in verse 37 and verse 38 that each day Jesus was teaching at the temple and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple so Jesus is at this point massively popular with the common people and so the religious leaders who were infuriated by Jesus and jealous of him they wanted rid of him but they couldn't just get rid of him because they feared the people and they feared what the people would do to them if the people found out about this plot to assassinate Jesus so behind the scenes we see these religious leaders these high ranking clerics conspiring plotting scheming some way to take out Jesus people who were previously enemies were beginning to come together because they're trying to cook up charges they're trying to find some story that they could make stick to Jesus they need to find some allegations some guilt that can stick to Jesus before they have license to kill him and the crowds they don't know about this conspiracy the disciples they don't know about the conspiracy either but Jesus knew all about it

[44:36] Jesus knew what they were planning Jesus knew that he was being watched Jesus knew that these powerful men were determined to get rid of him and Jesus knew that the one who was fueling this opposition and the one who was orchestrating this conspiracy was Satan Jesus could see what could not be seen with the naked eye he can see the spiritual warfare that's going on behind all these schemes and so as we go through these chapters we don't often see the name of Satan we do in the passage that we read today but we know from all that's unfolding that Satan is real and he is active he was then and he is today even though we can't see him he prowls around and if you want to track the movements of Satan you just have to look for plans to get rid of Jesus if we want to know what Satan is up to we just need to look at these conspiracies these plans that are ongoing to try to get rid of Jesus

[46:08] I mean think about it still today there are there are leaders there are those in positions of authority all over the world and very much in Scotland who want rid of Jesus who want the word of God the Bible taken out of the schools out of the hospitals out of the hotels out of the public square and so they scheme and they plot to try to get the name of Jesus and the word of God out of society and we see it but unbeknown to them the one driving every conspiracy to get rid of Jesus is Satan but even if we think about our own lives and our own hearts we know if we're honest and we know ourselves at all that there are idols that rise up that seem to just edge Jesus out of our lives and often these things just they seem innocent enough you know it can be work which is good it can be relationships and relationships are good

[47:41] Satan is subtle he doesn't come at us with a pitchfork and horns he doesn't come at us with things that are very obvious and easy to see he doesn't come at us with these dark plans he takes very often good things and inflates them in our lives until they become God things and we discover that all of a sudden Jesus has been edged out of our life the time the time that we once had for him has shrunk and the zeal that we once had for him seems to have been diverted off into some other hobby or pursuit or sport or whatever so the continuing conspiracy of Satan for my life and yours is to either get Jesus out of our lives or to get us at a distance from Jesus so if we're

[48:45] Christians we're ineffective and lukewarm so watch for him is the first thing there's a conspiracy to kill we see it back then we see it today we see it around us we see it in us the second point here is there is consent that's given to betray Jesus look at verse 3 then Satan entered Judah it's called Iscariot one of the twelve and Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus they were delighted we can only imagine how delighted they were as they try to make these charges stick as they cannot figure out how to get rid of Jesus one of the twelve comes and says how can I help so they were delighted verse 5 and agreed to give him money he consented and watched for an opportunity to hand

[49:49] Jesus over to them when no crowd was present I think one of the most chilling lines in the whole of Luke's gospel is found in verse 3 then Satan entered Judah called Iscariot one of the twelve and I wonder should we be worried about this as we see what happened to Judah should we be worried about this as we think about our own lives and I think the answer is well not if we're Christians if we are Christians we have opened our lives to God if we are

[50:50] Christians we have confessed our sin and we have asked God to come into our life but being a Christian is not just coming to God and asking for forgiveness and asking for this ticket to heaven it's entering into this relationship with God where the God of all he comes to live in us that's the amazing thing about being a Christian the God that reveals himself to us in creation and in scripture the God that we see as we focus on Jesus he lives in us Galatians 2.20 the apostle Paul says Christ lives in me John 14.23 Jesus says if anyone loves me he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him that's the promise for those who are Christians so if God lives in us if our hearts are home to God father son and holy spirit

[52:05] Satan cannot break in and enter because he's not strong enough think about the words of John in 1 John 4.4 he says greater is he and he's speaking to Christians greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world and Satan is in the world certainly we know that and Satan can attack us from the outside if we're Christians and he does but he can't get inside so praise the Lord for that give thanks to God for that security protection Satan is no match for Jesus that the cross proved that so we can take great comfort in these truths but let me speak for a moment to those who are not

[53:18] Christians and if you're here this morning and you're not a Christian this is an alarming verse because the person who's not a Christian doesn't have that inner protection that a Christian has because God does not live in them so there is a high vulnerability for those who are not Christians now think about Judas at this point Judas he can't see Satan he's not conscious of Satan and just as the religious leaders as they plot and scheme and conspire they're not conscious of Satan Judas didn't consciously cooperate with Satan there's no conversation that happens between Judas and the devil but the thing is

[54:20] Judas has a weak point and Satan knew about him and for Judas it was the love of money and so as Judas senses that those who had money want Jesus he sees an opportunity he's been putting his hand in the money bag for a while getting a pound here and a pound there but he sees an opportunity now to make a life changing amount of money and so he goes to the religious leaders he agrees a deal and he consents to betray Jesus we we sometimes sing the hymn I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold I'd rather have

[55:20] Jesus than riches untold and Judas couldn't sing it or we sang this this morning in the first hymn riches I heed not and Judas couldn't sing it he'd rather have the silver and gold he'd rather take the cash and so he gave his consent to the silver perhaps not knowing that he was giving his consent to Satan and he betrays Jesus and I think as Luke records this we are asked the question who will you give your consent to who will you and

[56:23] I in our lives give our love and our obedience to who will we open up our lives to will it be to Jesus this is a day by day thing the saviour the lord or will we open up our lives will we give our consent to something else or someone else some secret idol some cherished sin some addiction that we hate but we love and when it comes to the crunch it's more precious to us than Jesus will we give our consent to something like that that will cause us even to betray

[57:27] Jesus and be lost because that's always Satan's aim Judas walks away with a bag of cash but almost immediately he realises that it doesn't satisfy Satan's aim for Judas is that he would be lost and Satan's aim for everyone is that they will be lost because he is lost so watch him resist him flee from him flee to the saviour who loves you and who laid down his life so that you could be saved not lost so you could be satisfied not sad even with a bag of cash consenting to betray conspiracy to kill third thing is there's a commitment to save and so far as we step through these opening verses in

[58:46] Luke 22 it's dark there's an awful sense of the darkness wanting to snuff out the light Satan we would say at this point seems to have the upper hand because the religious leaders and Judas they're under his control it seems they're pawns in his hand but all was not as it seemed that's the good news remember John in his gospel he begins by saying in verse 5 the light Jesus shines in the darkness but the darkness has not overcome it and in the midst of the darkness that we're reading about here God was at work he didn't cause the darkness there's nothing of God that has created this darkness but in the midst of the darkness in spite of the darkness God is at work the conspiracy to have

[59:47] Jesus killed the consent of Judas to betray Jesus to hand Jesus over it's all part of the plan of God all this in a way that's more mysterious than our finite minds can really grasp what's to be used by God in his commitment to save his people think back a little think back to the Old Testament and there is this there is this continual message of God's commitment to save his people and that salvation is very clearly we're told coming through the suffering of the Son of God think Isaiah 53 the suffering of Jesus think Psalm 22 we're taken behind the curtain of the cross and we see the suffering of Jesus and as we come now to the Passover we have a pointer to we have an illustration of the impending suffering of Jesus so as

[60:58] Jesus makes preparation for the Passover he knows what's to come he knows that this is a picture that is pointing to him verse seven then came the day of unleavened bread in which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed Jesus sent Peter and John saying go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover where do you want us to prepare for it they asked he replied as you enter the city a man carrying a jar of water will meet you that was unusual by the way the woman carried the jars of water the men never did but in this case they were to have their eyes peeled for this unusual thing where this man is carrying a jar of water he'll meet you follow him into the house that he enters verse 10 and say to the owner of the house the teacher asks where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples he will show you a large upper room all furnished make preparations there they left and found things just as

[62:05] Jesus had told them so they prepared the Passover when the hour came Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table and he said to them I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer for I tell you I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God now what was going on in Passover well during Passover God's people remembered how God had saved them they remembered how God had saved them from Egypt and opened the doors from slavery into freedom and they remembered how they were saved from death remember the plague that came into Egypt and every house death came but where the Passover lamb had been slayed where the blood covered the doorpost death passed over and so God said to his people trust me slay the lamb cover your house with that blood blood and you will be saved and on that night every house that was covered by the blood was passed over by death it was life and here in Luke 22 we see

[63:50] Jesus who is the lamb of God the Passover lamb and he is preparing to suffer he is making these preparations knowing that it was his blood that would soon be shed so that all who believe in him would not die but live eternally J.C.

[64:23] Ryle says it more succinctly than I can he says the death of Christ was the fulfillment of the Passover he was the true sacrifice to which every Passover lamb had been pointing for 1500 years what the death of the lamb had been to Israel and Egypt his death was to be to sinners all over the world the safety which the blood of the Passover lamb had provided for Israel his blood was to provide far more abundantly for all that believed in him so the question for us in application here is do we believe in Jesus are we covered by the blood of Jesus remember death did not pass over Jesus on the cross it came to him and judgment for sin did not pass over

[65:24] Jesus on the cross he took it he drank the cup but the promise of the gospel is that if we believe in him if we confess our sin if we ask him to cover us our hearts with his blood we are saved as the hymn goes there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains you don't have to walk out the door today with all these stains of guilt that haunt you in time and could kill you eternally you simply need to believe in

[66:26] Jesus ask for that cleanser and there is the promise that every guilty stain is removed we'll leave it there let's pray our heavenly father we thank you for your word and we thank you for the call of the gospel we thank you that we have the promise that there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins and sinners which we are when we are plunged beneath that flood we lose all our guilty stains so we pray that as we go from here none of us would go holding on to our sin with hearts that are stained and lives which are sad because we are still resisting

[67:35] Jesus enable each of us we pray to simply come to Jesus confessing our sin seeking that cleansing and seeking the salvation which Jesus paid for on the cross and offers to all who will believe in him and we pray this in Jesus name and for Jesus sake amen how possible is it to change the last hymn Adam there is a fountain filled with blood if it's not we can maybe just sing it unaccompanied amen I know we'll be able to just flick to the database we had one more point which would have taken us to the last hymn but we never got there so it would be good if possible to finish with that hymn there is a fountain filled with blood and Adam if you can play that's fine and if not unaccompanied so Farrakhar the heat is on you so Farrakhar if you stand we'll stand with you and sing to

[68:45] God's praise there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's pain and sinners crowns be that flood loose or their guilty saint lose or their guilty saint lose or their guilty saint a sinner's crunch meet that flood lose or their guilty saint their dying thief rejoice to see that fountain in his day and there may I can smile as he wash all my sins away wash pas have nowhere

[70:26] Judithimas month Dear dying lamb, your precious blood shall never lose its power.

[70:41] Till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more.

[70:53] Be saved to sin no more. Be saved to sin no more.

[71:06] Till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more.

[71:19] And since my faith I saw the stream, your flowing wounds supply.

[71:30] Redeeming love has been my theme and shall be till I die.

[71:43] And shall be till I die.

[71:57] Redeeming love has been my theme and shall be till I die.

[72:08] Then in a nobler, sweeter song I'll sing your power to save.

[72:21] When this foolish, faint-stambering tongue lies silent in the grave.

[72:33] Lie silent in the grave. Lie silent in the grave.

[72:47] When this foolish, faint-stambering tongue lies silent in the grave.

[72:59] And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit be with us all now and forevermore.

[73:10]  Amen.