Hoshana Rabbah - Great Salvation

[0:00] But if we could, this evening with the Lord's help and the Lord's enabling, if we could turn back to that portion of scripture that we read, the Gospel according to John and chapter 7.

[0:18] John chapter 7, and if we read again at verse 37. John chapter 7 and verse 37.

[0:30] We were told there, on the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

[0:43] Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

[1:00] At this time of year, many people are, like myself, looking forward to their October holiday because the schools, they've closed for nearly a fortnight and people, they're getting away on holiday.

[1:15] Some people are coming home to Lewis for a holiday. Other people, they're getting away for a holiday. And in many ways, that's also the case for many Jews.

[1:26] Because the Jews have many holidays at this time of year. They have many holy days during the month of October. In fact, the month of October is a very busy month of holy days in the Jewish calendar.

[1:41] Because the Jews, they have three important festivals or feasts held in succession. There is Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Succoth.

[1:54] Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Succoth. Now, Rosh Hashanah, as some of the children will know from school, we were teaching it in the school. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year.

[2:07] And it's a two-day feast which began just after sundown on Sunday the 29th of September this year. And it lasted two days until after sundown on the 1st of October.

[2:19] Now, of course, this is different to our new year because we follow a solar calendar. But the Jews, they follow a lunar calendar. They follow the calendar of the moon.

[2:31] And they celebrate New Year on the first day of the month called Tishri. Now, in contrast to ringing bells and setting off fireworks, which we do on the 1st of January, the Jews mark Rosh Hashanah, their Jewish New Year, they mark it by blowing what they call the shofar.

[2:49] The shofar was this loud horn that was made from an ox horn or a ram's horn. And they would blow this horn to mark the beginning of Rosh Hashanah.

[3:00] And what's interesting is that by blowing the shofar at Rosh Hashanah, the Jews believe that they're marking the anniversary of the creation. That when God made the world out of nothing in the space of six days and all very good, they believe that that's what they're marking.

[3:18] They're marking the anniversary of creation. And contrary to scientific claims which date the world to be 65 million years old, the Jews and even some Christians, they believe that on the 29th of September this year, the world celebrated its 5,780th birthday.

[3:43] So that's Rosh Hashanah. But then following Rosh Hashanah is the feast Yom Kippur, which is the Day of Atonement. And this feast is held 10 days after the shofar has sounded at Rosh Hashanah.

[3:55] And this year, Yom Kippur, it began last Tuesday, Tuesday the 8th of October until sundown on Wednesday the 9th of October.

[4:06] So last Tuesday and Wednesday was Yom Kippur. And Yom Kippur, it's known as the holiest day in the year because the Jews are said to experience divine favor with God.

[4:16] Because it's only at Yom Kippur that the high priest was allowed to enter through the curtain into the holy of holies. And as you know, the curtain, that curtain that separated sinful man from their holy God, it was that curtain in the temple that made this great separation.

[4:35] But on Yom Kippur, the high priest, he was allowed to enter into the holy of holies with the blood of a sacrifice in order to make atonement on behalf of the people.

[4:47] And you can read all about it in Leviticus chapter 16. But of course, the gospel reminds us that when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain that separated sinful man and holy God, that curtain was torn in two from top to bottom.

[5:05] And the access was made where we can now enter into the presence of a holy God. That through the death of Jesus, atonement has been achieved and sinners now have access.

[5:17] And the plea of the Bible now to us is not to stay out, but to come in. We must come, says the Bible. We must come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and grace to help in time of need.

[5:33] So there's Rosh Hashanah, there's Yom Kippur, and then the last Jewish feast in the busy month of October is Succoth, or the Feast of Tabernacles.

[5:44] And that's what we see in John chapter 7. The Feast of Tabernacles begins this evening. It begins at sundown, right now, as the sun goes down on the 13th of October.

[5:59] And Succoth, or the Feast of Tabernacles, it's a week-long festival that will last from this evening until next Sunday evening, when the sun goes down on the 20th of October.

[6:11] And that's why I want us just to look at this passage this evening in John chapter 7. Because it was at this time of year, during the Feast of Tabernacles, that Jesus revealed himself as the great salvation.

[6:27] So it was at this time of year that Jesus reveals himself as the great salvation. And I want us to think about this this evening under three simple headings. Three simple headings.

[6:38] Lost, life, and light. Lost, life, and light. So we look first of all at lost. Lost.

[6:49] Look at verse 1 of chapter 7. We're told that after this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill him.

[7:00] Now the Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works that you are doing. Now as a gospel writer who wrote his gospel to convince Jews that Jesus is the Messiah, John, the gospel writer here, he inevitably spends a lot of time focusing upon the feasts and festivals in the Jewish calendar.

[7:27] Because in the previous chapter, in John chapter 6, we're told that it was during the Feast of Passover that Jesus declared to all the people present, he said, I am the bread of life.

[7:40] Whosoever comes to me shall not hunger. And whosoever believes in me shall never thirst. Now the Feast of Passover, it's held around April.

[7:52] It's held in April each year. But you know, as we come into chapter 7, we're told that six months must have passed. Because it's now the Feast of Booths.

[8:02] It's now Succoth. It's now the Feast of Tabernacles. And as we said, the Feast of Tabernacles was held around October each year. And so there's six months between John 6 and John 7.

[8:16] There's six months between John 6 and John 7. And during that six month period, we're told in verse 1, after this, Jesus went about in Galilee.

[8:27] He would not go about in Judea. Because the Jews were seeking to kill him. For six months, Jesus remained in the region of Galilee.

[8:38] He refused to go out further than Galilee into Judea. Because the Jewish leaders, the Jewish authorities, they're seeking to kill him. But you know, at the Feast of Tabernacles in October, we know that it wouldn't be for another six months until the Feast of Passover, the following April, that Jesus would be arrested and crucified.

[9:02] And so by this point, in John 7, you could see that Jesus only has six months to live. Jesus only has six months to live. But Jesus knew that.

[9:14] That's why Jesus says to his brothers down in verse 8, he says, you go up to the Feast. I'm not going up to the Feast, for my time has not yet fully come. Jesus knew that he had six months to live.

[9:27] Because his time had not yet come. His time had not yet come. And you know, thinking about it, does it ever make you think about how you would feel if you knew you only had six months to live?

[9:47] Does it ever make you think about how you would feel if you knew that you only had six months to live? Would you live differently to the way that you are living now? If you knew that you only had six months to live?

[10:00] My unconverted friend here this evening, would you seek the Lord more earnestly and commit your life to Jesus Christ tonight if you knew that you only had six months to live?

[10:14] My Christian friend here this evening, would you walk with the Lord more closely and witness for the Lord more faithfully and serve the Lord more diligently if you knew that you only had six months to live?

[10:27] And I'm sure that we would all live differently and act differently if we knew that we had only six months to live. And you know, yet the Bible says to us that we're not even promised tomorrow.

[10:42] We're not promised six months to live because we're not even promised tomorrow, which should actually make us think about living differently and acting differently in the here and now.

[10:54] So my unconverted friend, you don't know if you have six months to live, which means you should seek the Lord tonight. My Christian friend, we don't know if we have six months to live, therefore we should live for the Lord tonight and every night of our Christian lives.

[11:13] We don't know if we have six months to live. But you know, what's remarkable is that Jesus' brothers, they didn't want Jesus dead in six months' time during the feast of Passover.

[11:25] Jesus' brothers wanted Jesus dead now during the feast of tabernacles. Because we're told in verse 3, his brothers said to him, leave here and go to Judea that your disciples also may see the works that you are doing.

[11:41] For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world. So knowing that Jesus was avoiding going into Judea because the Jewish authorities were seeking to kill him, Jesus' brothers, they tell Jesus, go into Judea with your disciples.

[12:03] Jesus' brothers tell Jesus to go to the very place where he can be killed. They say, leave here, go into Judea that your disciples may see what you're doing.

[12:14] For no one sees in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these messianic things, they're saying, show yourself to the world. Make yourself known. That's what his brothers say.

[12:25] Jesus' brothers, they're mocking him. And they're saying that Jesus is hiding. He's hiding away from everyone. He's hiding away from the Jewish authorities.

[12:35] And they're asking their brother, what kind of Messiah are you really? What kind of Messiah is that who doesn't make himself known and hides away from everyone?

[12:48] And you know, with such mocking, John tells us plainly in verse 5, he says, for not even his brothers believed him. Not even his brothers believed him.

[13:01] Not even the brothers of Jesus believed in him. They were from the same womb. And yet the brothers of Jesus didn't believe that he was the Messiah.

[13:14] In fact, it's not that they didn't believe in Jesus. We see here that they hated Jesus. They wanted Jesus dead. They couldn't wait to see the back of Jesus.

[13:25] But you know, my friend, thinking about Jesus' situation in the family home, you know, we ought to take great comfort in the fact that Jesus' brothers didn't believe in him.

[13:42] You know, we ought to take comfort in the fact that the members of his own family who came from the same womb and grew up in the same home under the same roof and sat at the same dinner table and attended the same church and walked and talked with Jesus for many years of his life and yet they didn't believe that Jesus was the Messiah.

[14:02] You know, we ought to take great comfort from this because, well, I think like this anyway, but you might think that as a Christian you're a poor witness in your home and that you can't seem to break through to the members of your family with the gospel.

[14:19] You've been trying for years, you've been trying with your brother and trying with your sister, trying to speak to your wife, trying to speak to your husband, trying to speak to your children, trying to speak to your grandchildren, and still they don't believe in Jesus.

[14:33] They're still rejecting the gospel, still living like prodigal sons and daughters, still walking on the broad road that leads to destruction. They're lost. Just like Jesus' brothers went.

[14:46] They're lost. And maybe sometimes, my Christian friend, like me, you blame yourself or you question if your poor witness is a hindrance to their conversion.

[15:01] But you know, what we ought to take comfort in is the fact that Jesus, Jesus was the perfect brother. Jesus was a sinless son. Jesus was the spotless witness.

[15:13] And yet his brothers didn't believe. Many of them did after his death. We know that. We know that James and Jude, they wrote two of the New Testament books.

[15:27] But at this point, at the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus' brothers still couldn't see the uniqueness of God's son. They couldn't see the uniqueness of Jesus.

[15:39] They couldn't see that he's the Christ. They couldn't see that he's not just a worshiper going to the feast. He's the fulfillment of the feast. They were lost.

[15:51] They were lost. But the wonderful thing about this passage is that we're reminded that Jesus came to bring life. Jesus came to bring life. That's what I want us to see secondly.

[16:03] So we've seen lost. Secondly, life. Life. Look at verse 10. We're told that after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly, but in private.

[16:19] The Jews were looking for him at the feast and saying, Where is he? And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said he is a good man, others said, No, he's leading the people astray.

[16:30] Yet for fear of the Jews, no one spoke openly of him. Now notice what John says there. John tells us that Jesus' brothers went up.

[16:42] They went up to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. And then we're told that Jesus went up privately. They all went up to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. They went up to Jerusalem.

[16:54] And that's because twice a year, the Jews would travel from all over the nation of Israel and they would ascend towards the temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts that were held there.

[17:07] And the reason why they went up was simply because Jerusalem was built upon a mountain, a mountain called Mount Zion. And so the Jews, they would go up to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover in April and also for Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement and then the feast of tabernacles in October.

[17:28] And at these special times in the Jewish calendar, the Jews would gather together in their family groups just like Jesus' brother. All the neighbors would come together.

[17:39] They'd all congregate together at this central point in their village or town or city. And from there, they would leave. They would leave as one people and they would begin their pilgrimage towards Jerusalem.

[17:53] And as the Jews journeyed towards Jerusalem, they would sing as we were singing this evening. They would sing the songs of ascent. They would sing these 15 psalms in the book of Psalms, the Psalms numbered 120 to Psalm 134.

[18:11] And they would sing these songs of ascent as they were ascending towards the temple in Jerusalem. In fact, our opening item of praise, Psalm 122, it reflects what it would have been like for the Jews ascending towards Jerusalem.

[18:28] Because just before the Jews would set off towards Jerusalem, they would all have gathered together in their families and as villages, they would all gather together. And just before they would set off, someone would shout out from within the gathered group, they would say, let us go up.

[18:46] And then the people would all respond by saying, we will go up. And then they would begin their journey towards Jerusalem. And that's what we were singing about in Psalm 122.

[18:59] The psalmist was saying, I joyed when to the house of God. Go up, they said to me. Jerusalem within thy gates. Our feet shall standing be. That's where they were going.

[19:10] They were going to the feast to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. Now, the Feast of Tabernacles, it's a feast that celebrated and commemorated the Lord's deliverance of the children of Israel from bondage and slavery in Egypt.

[19:27] But the Feast of Tabernacles, it also celebrated and commemorated the Lord's provision. The Lord's provision for the children of Israel through that 40-year period in the wilderness.

[19:39] Because for 40 years, you'll remember, the children of Israel, they moved from place to place. And as they moved from place to place, just like nomads, they were all living in tents.

[19:52] It's estimated that there were about 2.4 million Israelites moving towards the promised land. And as they moved from place to place, they were all living in tents, or sakkas, as the Hebrews would call them.

[20:08] And so during the Feast of Tabernacles, the Jews would celebrate and commemorate the Lord's salvation by dwelling in these tents. They would build makeshift tents and eat the Feast of Tabernacles together.

[20:23] They would celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles in these sakkas. But as we read here, when Jesus' brothers went up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, we're told that the Jewish authorities were looking for Jesus.

[20:38] They obviously assumed that Jesus would be with his brothers because everybody went up to the Feast in their families. But Jesus, we're told, he went up privately.

[20:50] But what's interesting about those who were gathered at the Feast of Tabernacles is that everyone knows that the Jewish authorities are looking for Jesus. Everyone knows they're all out to get Jesus.

[21:01] But what we read there is that not everyone has the same opinion about Jesus as the Jewish authorities. In fact, the opinions of Jesus, the opinions about Jesus were divided because some said that Jesus was a good man.

[21:20] Others said that Jesus was leading the people astray. And you know, that's the opinion that people still have about Jesus. Opinions about Jesus are still divided to this very day because some say that Jesus is a good man.

[21:36] He's a good man with a good philosophy for life. If you want to follow that, go ahead. Some people say that Jesus is leading people astray. He's brainwashing people. He's brainwashing all these church people and leading them astray.

[21:50] They're wasting their life following that church carry on. So some people think Jesus is a good man. Some people think Jesus is leading people astray. But Jesus himself claimed that he is the Christ.

[22:04] He is the Son of God. He's the only way of salvation. Opinions about Jesus are still divided. Some people think Jesus is a Savior of sinners.

[22:17] Some people think Jesus is the Savior of sinners. But Jesus unequivocally states that he is the only way. The only way. But you know, my friend, the question which Jesus asks you, the question which Jesus asks you is not what do people say or who do people say that I am.

[22:42] The question Jesus asks you is who do you say that I am? Who do you say that I am? Never mind what anybody else has to say.

[22:53] Who do you say that I am? That's what Jesus asks you tonight. Who do you say that I am? And so as the people shared their opinions of Jesus, they were all whispering amongst one another.

[23:07] They were all gathering together in church, whispering in fear of the Jews, hearing them talking about Jesus. But we're told in verse 14 that it was in the middle of the feast.

[23:18] In the middle of the feast of tabernacles. Probably about, we'll say, well if today is the beginning, we'll say Wednesday or Thursday. In the middle of the feast of tabernacles, Jesus finally makes an appearance.

[23:30] We're told in verse 14, about the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled saying, how is it that this man is learning when he has never studied?

[23:44] So Jesus answered them, my teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. Jesus appeared in the temple and he began teaching the people, affirming to them that he is the Christ.

[23:59] He's affirming to them that his ministry and his message, it's not of himself, it's all of God. And what's interesting, when you read the rest of the chapter, you can read it for yourself when you go home.

[24:12] What's interesting is that the differing opinions of Jesus, they spark this debate. This debate between the Jewish authorities and the people.

[24:23] And they're all debating over the identity of Jesus. And they debate to the point that tensions are escalating and everyone's asking the question, if Jesus is really the Christ.

[24:35] They all want to know in the end. They all want to know if Jesus really is the Christ. And this debate, it continues from the middle of the feast, say Wednesday, Thursday, all the way to the last day of the feast.

[24:51] The debate carries on every single day. They're all debating, can this person, can this Jesus really be the Christ? And it continues all the way to the last day of the feast, because we're told in verse 37, on the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

[25:16] Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. So this debate had carried on for days.

[25:27] And then the last day of the feast of tabernacles, which is known as the day Hosanna Rabbah, which is the great salvation. The day of great salvation, on the last day of the feast, Jesus stands up and announces who he is.

[25:45] And you know, what's really interesting about what Jesus says in verse 37, where he says, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. What's interesting is that every morning during the feast of tabernacles, every single morning, there would be this procession of priests and they would leave the temple and they would go across the whole city of Jerusalem to the other side to the pool of Siloam.

[26:13] And you've heard of the pool of Siloam. That's where the man who was blind was cleansed. He was told to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. And so the priests would go from the temple to the pool of Siloam and they would draw water with their golden pitchers and then they would return to the temple and pour the pitchers of water on top of the altar of sacrifice.

[26:36] And as they did this ritual every morning, all the Jews who had come to Jerusalem for the festival, they would celebrate the feast of tabernacles by going in this procession with the priests to the water and then all the way back to the temple.

[26:52] And they would follow the priests rejoicing and singing in order to celebrate and commemorate the Lord's provision of salvation. And John says to us, it was at that point.

[27:05] It was at that point on the last day of the feast when everybody's been asking, who is the Christ? Can this be the Christ? On the last day of the feast, Hosanna Rabbah, the great day of salvation, when they were just pouring the water onto the altar of sacrifice, we're told that Jesus stands up and he announces to the crowd, revealing his identity, saying to them, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

[27:35] And he who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. You know, my friend, it was at that point that Jesus was revealing and even reminding the people and us here this evening.

[27:52] He's reminding us that he is the Lord's provision of salvation. There's no one else. He is the Lord's provision of salvation.

[28:03] Jesus is Hosanna Rabbah. He is the great salvation. He is Hosanna Rabbah, the great salvation.

[28:14] And with that, Jesus, he says, he invites anyone to come to him for salvation. If anyone thirsts, let him come unto me and drink.

[28:28] And you know, my unconverted friend, the gospel is holding out to you tonight. It's holding out to you a beautiful invitation for you to come and experience the promise of eternal life.

[28:42] And you know, what I love about Jesus' invitation is that it's to anyone. It's to anyone. There are no barriers. He puts up no barrier. He says, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

[28:59] The offer to receive the Lord's provision of salvation, it's as wide as possible. He says, anyone. Anyone. That offer, it includes everyone and excludes no one.

[29:13] The offer is as wide as possible. Anyone. Whether Jew or Gentile, he says, religious or not. Whether they've been good or bad in their life. Whether they're male or female, rich or poor, young or old.

[29:26] Whatever situation in life, Jesus says, anyone. Anyone can come to me. And so my friend, if you see your need, which I hope and pray you do, if you see your need of salvation, then you must come to Jesus for this life-giving water.

[29:52] Is that not what Isaiah said to the people of his day? He said, O, everyone who thirsts, come. Come ye to the waters. Ye come.

[30:04] Buy wine and milk without money and without price. He says, come, come, come. If anyone thirsts, says Jesus, let him come unto me and drink.

[30:19] Oh, my friend, you come. You come. Is it not about time that you came? You come and experience this great salvation.

[30:33] Experience this life-giving salvation. But you know what's remarkable about this day? Hosanna Rabbah, the last day of the feast.

[30:45] Is that Jesus didn't, he not only offered life, he also offered light. And that's what I want us to see lastly and very briefly. Light.

[30:57] Lost life and light. You jump into chapter 8. Chapter 8 at verse 12. We see Jesus offering light.

[31:10] Again, so this is still the Feast of Tabernacles. Again, Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.

[31:25] So when Jesus revealed himself as the Lord's provision of salvation, he revealed himself on this day called Hosanna Rabbah, the great day of salvation. And when he revealed himself as the one in whom you can come to to quench your thirst, that wasn't going to be the last time that Jesus spoke at the Feast of Tabernacles.

[31:46] Because we're told here in chapter 8 at verse 12 that after sundown, after sundown, it was customary for the priests to light lamps in the temple courtyard.

[31:58] In fact, every evening, just like every morning where they went to get the water, every evening after sundown, during this week-long Feast of Tabernacles, they would light four giant candelabras in the temple courtyard.

[32:13] And these candelabras, they were said to be so big and so bright that when they were lit, they would light up the whole of Jerusalem. Jerusalem. And they said it was like it was midday with these lights shining.

[32:28] They would light up the city of Jerusalem. And similar to the water being poured upon the altar, the lamps were to remind the Jews of the Lord's provision of salvation during those 40 years in the wilderness and how the Lord had led the children of Israel through the wilderness by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

[32:50] But what I find fascinating about this chapter is that on the last day of the feast of tabernacles on Hosanna Rabbah, the day of great salvation at the close of all the celebrations as everything is coming to its close, the Jews would leave one candelabra left unlit.

[33:11] They would light the other three but one of them would be left unlit. And it would be left unlit to symbolize that the full salvation of the Lord had not yet come because the Messiah had not yet appeared.

[33:26] And then you see Jesus. He stands up again and he says to the crowd I am the light of the world. He who believes in me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.

[33:44] You know it's amazing Jesus standing up at that particular moment in the feast of tabernacles declaring and revealing himself to everyone. I am the light of the world.

[33:56] He who believes in me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. And you know it must have been amazing to hear Jesus finally revealing himself and reminding sinners that he is Hosanna Rabbah.

[34:10] He is great salvation. He is the great salvation revealed to sinners. sinners. And my friend this Jesus is the only one who is able to give us this great salvation.

[34:24] He is the only one who can satisfy the deep desires of our heart because the reality is the world won't do it. We can try and try and try and find happiness and satisfaction in all the avenues and areas of this world but we will never be satisfied.

[34:41] We will never be satisfied. Which is why Jesus says to us here if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink. You must come to him my friend so that you will have life.

[34:55] You must come to him so that you will have life. But more than that Jesus says you must follow him. You must follow him because by following Jesus Jesus says you will not walk in darkness but you will have the light of life.

[35:11] So you must come to him and you must follow him. My friend by following Jesus by committing your life to Jesus Christ you will be brought out of the darkness you are currently in and brought into the marvelous light of the gospel.

[35:32] Lost life and light. Do you know my unconverted friend Jesus is saying to you tonight from this beautiful passage in John 7 that without him as your savior you are like his brothers were.

[35:50] You are lost. You are lost. There is no other way to describe you. You are lost. What an awful condition to be in.

[36:02] To be lost. But the wonderful thing about this passage is that Jesus is saying to you he has come. And he has come to give you life.

[36:14] He has come to give you life and you must follow him and walk in his light. He has come to give you life and you must walk in his light because he is the great salvation.

[36:28] He is the great salvation. My friend Jesus is saying to you tonight if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink because I am the light of the world.

[36:42] He who believes in me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. This my friend is the great salvation. This is Hosanna Rabbah.

[36:54] The great salvation. But you know having heard about the great salvation this evening. This great salvation through Jesus Christ.

[37:08] Christ. You know the Bible leaves you with one question as someone who is lost. How shall you escape if you neglect so great salvation?

[37:24] How shall you escape if you neglect this great salvation that's on offer to you tonight? Don't put it off.

[37:35] come. Come and follow this Savior who will give you life and light. You come and come now.

[37:50] May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray. O Lord our gracious God we give thanks to thee that Jesus is Hosanna Rabbah.

[38:03] He is the great salvation and we thank thee and we praise thee that he has revealed himself to us in the gospel as the one who compels us and invites us to come to come that we might find life.

[38:17] And Lord help us to follow him to walk in his light as he is in the light knowing as thy word reminds us that when we do so we will have fellowship with him.

[38:28] Lord bless us we pray bless thy truth to our souls and Lord bless us in the week that lies ahead a week that is unknown to any of us. But we give thanks Lord that this is where we were found in the Lord's house on the Lord's day hearing God speak to us from his word and Lord may we take that word into a new week knowing that the Lord one who is with us promising never to leave us and never to forsake us.

[38:56] Keep us then we pray go before us and do us good for Jesus sake. Amen. We shall bring our service to a conclusion by singing the words of Psalm 130.

[39:13] Psalm 130 in the Scottish Psalter page 421 Psalm 130 this is another of the songs of ascent and in many ways it really is a song of ascent.

[39:38] As we said many times before it begins in the depths where the psalmist is crying from the depths and it ends in the heights. The psalmist begins Lord from the depths to thee I cried my voice Lord do thou hear unto my supplications voice give an attentive ear and the psalm concludes and plenteous redemption is ever found with him and from all his iniquities he is real shall redeem.

[40:08] The whole psalm of Psalm 130 to God's praise. Lord from the death to thee I cried my voice Lord do thou hear unto you o Lord to some Thank you.

[41:19] Forgiveness is that fear the mayest fear.

[41:33] I wait for God, my soul doth wait.

[41:45] My hope is in His word. More than may that o'er morning watch, my soul waits for the Lord.

[42:13] I say for Thou may not to watch, the morning light to see.

[42:32] Let Israel open the Lord, for with Him mercies be.

[42:52] Amplenteous redemption is ever found with Him.

[43:12] And from all His iniquities Israel shall redeem.

[43:32] Amen. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and forevermore.

[43:43] Amen.