Our Mediator

[0:00] Well, 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, 1 Timothy chapter 2, and if we take as our text the words of verses 5 and 6, where Paul writes, For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

[0:41] There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Now, we're familiar with Paul's letter to Timothy because only a couple of weeks ago we were considering Paul's outline for the qualification of elders, and that's given to us in chapter 3.

[1:05] But as we said before, the letters of Paul to both Timothy and to Titus, they've often been described as the pastoral epistles. And they're pastoral because Paul wrote them, these epistles, to two young pastors who were serving the Lord in different places and in different contexts.

[1:25] Timothy was a minister in the urban church of Ephesus, the city of Ephesus, and Titus, he was called to a more rural context than on the Greek island of Crete.

[1:39] But these pastoral epistles of Timothy and Titus, they are letters of instruction and guidance, because in them Paul is passing on his pastoral wisdom and understanding to these two young ministers.

[1:53] And, you know, that comes across so clearly as Paul's pastoral heart recognizes that as a Christian mentor, he must instruct and he must encourage other servants of the Lord in their endeavors of church leadership.

[2:10] And even though both Timothy and Titus had different ministries, Paul knew that they had the same purpose. And they have the same purpose as we have today.

[2:23] The purpose of glorifying God and seeking to extend the kingdom of God in this world. But as Paul wrote his first pastoral epistle to Timothy, he encourages Timothy in this letter to stand firm.

[2:37] He encourages him to continue in the faith. He encourages him to preach sound doctrine, because at that time there were many false teachers and there was a lot of false doctrine being taught.

[2:47] But despite all the opposition and all the discouragement, Paul encourages Timothy to keep fighting the good fight of faith. And with that, Paul gives Timothy instructions and he gives him advice to teach the Christians in the church in Ephesus, so that they will implement this teaching in their lives.

[3:08] And Paul highlights, he goes through various issues in his pastorly epistle. He talks about false teachers. He talks about the role of women in church. We read that.

[3:19] He talks about the qualification of elders and deacons. And he also talks about the responsibility of church members. Paul squeezes a lot into 1 Timothy.

[3:30] But above all, Paul's pastoral heart is that both minister and congregation, that they will progress in their faith, and that they will continue to serve the Lord where they are.

[3:43] But you know, what's interesting is that Paul says that the first port of call, as the church of Jesus Christ in the world, he says it's not to ensure that there are elders or deacons.

[3:55] Paul says our first port of call is to pray. That's what he says in verse 1. First of all then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.

[4:11] Paul exhorts and he encourages, even you could say pleads with Timothy and his congregation, that they will pray for everyone in general, but particularly, he says in verse 2, for those in authority.

[4:24] And you know, Paul's teaching, it's so relevant to us, and it's of the utmost importance to us, because whatever we do in the name of Christ, as individuals or as a congregation, whether it's worship or preaching or Sunday school or the parent and toddler group or Christianity Explored or outreach, whatever we do in the name of Christ, prayer must be the priority.

[4:49] Prayer as individuals and as a congregation, as Paul is saying here, it must be our first port of call. But why should we pray?

[5:02] And why are we being urged to pray? And Paul says, well, he says in verse 3 that prayer is good and acceptable in the sight of God. Prayer is evidence of humility and dependence upon the Lord for all things.

[5:17] But more than that, says Paul, prayer is important because God, our Saviour, desires that everyone should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. And what Paul is teaching or urging young Timothy and Timothy's congregation, what he's urging them to do is to pray for their community and to evangelise their community.

[5:39] That's what he's telling them to do. Pray for your community and evangelise your community because God's desire is that everyone will be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. But, you know, just in case Timothy was to question Paul's teaching or to raise an objection to what Paul is saying, Paul explains why the young minister and his congregation should pray for their community and evangelise their community.

[6:04] And that's what he says in verse 5. He says there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

[6:20] Paul affirms to Timothy that the only reason they can pray for their community and the reason that they can have confidence in evangelising their community is because there is a mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

[6:34] And this is still relevant to us, isn't it? That the only reason we can pray is because of our mediator, Jesus Christ. And the only reason we should evangelise is because we have this mediator, Jesus Christ.

[6:49] And with this in mind, I'd like us to think about our mediator. We're into the run-up to Christmas and everybody thinks about the incarnation.

[7:00] And I want us to think about the incarnation in relation to our mediator. And I want us to gain help from the larger catechism in order to do this.

[7:12] Because as you can see in the sheet that I handed out, questions 36 to 42, they set out for us the reasons why Jesus is our mediator and the role which our mediator performs.

[7:28] And the larger catechism, it bases all its teaching upon these verses and other verses, but mainly upon the verses here in 1 Timothy. And I'd like us to consider these verses alongside the larger catechism.

[7:41] And I'd like us to consider our mediator under three headings. Three headings. The mistaken mediator, the mysterious mediator, and the mandatory mediator.

[7:54] So the mistaken mediator, the mysterious mediator, and the mandatory mediator. So we look first of all at the mistaken mediator. Paul says there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

[8:13] And in this verse, verse 5, Paul emphasizes to Timothy and to his congregation that they're to pray for their community and they're to evangelize their community because there is only one mediator.

[8:26] There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And question 36 in the larger catechism, it asks, who?

[8:37] Who is the mediator of the covenant of grace? And based upon Paul's words here in 1 Timothy, the catechism helpfully teaches us. It says that the only mediator of the covenant of grace is the Lord Jesus Christ, who being the eternal Son of God, of one substance and equal by the Father, in the fullness of time became man, and so was and continues to be God and man in two entire distinct natures and one person forever.

[9:08] And so it's clear, Jesus Christ is the only mediator of the covenant of grace. But what I want to highlight to us first of all is that the reason Jesus Christ is the mediator of the covenant of grace is because there was a mistaken mediator.

[9:26] There was a mistaken mediator who failed to be the mediator of the first covenant, the covenant of works. Adam was the mistaken mediator who failed to be the mediator of the first covenant, the covenant of works.

[9:44] Now, the covenant of works, it was issued to Adam, as you know, in the Garden of Eden. And like all covenants, the covenant of works, it was like a contract.

[9:55] It was a contract between God and Adam. And as with all contracts, if you've ever entered into a contract, there are terms and conditions of the contract.

[10:06] And so when Adam was created, he entered into the covenant of works, he entered into this contract, and upon entering into the covenant, God read to him the terms and conditions.

[10:18] But there was only one term and one condition. God said to him, you may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it, for in the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die.

[10:33] And as Adam entered into the covenant of works, the contract required perfect obedience to God's terms and conditions. The covenant of works required perfect obedience.

[10:45] There was to be no failures on Adam's part. There were to be no mistakes, no setbacks, no hiccups. He was to be 100% obedient. The standard which God had set was perfect obedience, perfect holiness, perfect righteousness.

[11:01] And upon his obedience to the covenant of works, Adam and all his posterity, they were promised eternal life. And as the one with whom God had entered into this covenant with, Adam was the mediator of the covenant of works.

[11:19] Adam was the mediator of the first covenant. And as mediator, he was to mediate the terms and conditions of the covenant to mankind. And mankind at that time was only himself and Eve.

[11:32] That was the whole world. But as we know, Adam, he failed in his responsibility. He failed as the mediator of the covenant of works. Because by the deception of the serpent, Adam and Eve, they took of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

[11:50] And Adam, as mediator of the covenant, he failed in his responsibility. Adam was to mediate between God and mankind, but he blew it. And so, with the first covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself but also for all his posterity, as the catechism says, all mankind descending from Adam by ordinary generation, we sinned in him and we fell with him in his first transgression.

[12:19] And with his first transgression, the first covenant was nullified. The contract was broken. Because the terms and conditions of perfect obedience, they weren't met.

[12:33] And so, in his first transgression, the first covenant was destroyed by the first Adam. But as we all know, that's not the end of the story.

[12:44] Because our confession reminds us, the Lord was pleased to make a second covenant, commonly called the covenant of grace. And the covenant of grace, grace, it was like the first.

[12:57] It was a contract. But it was a contract between God the Father and God the Son. And it's called the covenant of grace. This is the beauty of it.

[13:08] It's called the covenant of grace because God didn't have to make a second covenant. God wasn't obligated in any way to enter into a second covenant.

[13:19] covenant. There was nothing in fallen humanity that could merit or even demand from God that he make a second covenant. But the wonder of it is that God entered into a second covenant with mankind only because of the riches of his grace.

[13:37] God graciously and mercifully entered into this second covenant, the covenant of grace. And like the first covenant, the second covenant, the covenant of grace, it required perfect obedience.

[13:53] But now with mankind in a state of sin and misery, because of Adam's failure to uphold the first covenant, there was no one now in all of humanity that was able to fulfil the role of covenant mediator.

[14:07] And so the covenant of grace was contracted between God the Father and God the Son with God the Son as the mediator of the covenant. But in order to be mediator of the covenant of grace, God the Son had to take to himself our nature.

[14:25] In order to be our mediator, God the Son had to become man. Now of course the covenant of grace, it was an eternal covenant.

[14:38] We have to get this in here. It wasn't an afterthought. It wasn't plan B after plan A with Adam had failed. It's called the second covenant, but it was actually you could say the first covenant.

[14:51] It was formulated in eternity. The covenant of grace was an eternal covenant because God knew that Adam would fail to be the mediator of the covenant of works.

[15:03] And so in the councils of eternity before the world began, God the Father and God the Son, they entered into a covenant of grace in order to save the lost children of Adam.

[15:15] And you know, this is the wonder and the glory of our gospel, that before the world began, before God even said, let there be light, God loved us, God saw us, and God saved us through his Son, Jesus Christ.

[15:33] This is the beauty of it. And you know, we should never tire of this awesome fact that we were loved from all eternity. And you know, that's why Paul wrote to the Ephesians in chapter one.

[15:48] Paul just introduces himself to the Ephesians and he says to them, you are blessed people. He doesn't waste a moment, he says, you are blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ.

[16:01] And he goes on to say, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he says, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the beloved.

[16:22] Paul is saying to them, you are blessed people. You are blessed people, but he doesn't stop there. Because in Ephesians chapter one, Paul goes on to talk about the mystery of God becoming man.

[16:36] He says, it's in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us, he says, the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

[17:03] man. And he's saying to us, we are blessed because God mysteriously became man. And that's what I want us to consider secondly, the mysterious mediator.

[17:19] We've considered the mistaken mediator, but secondly, the mysterious mediator. There is one God, there is one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus.

[17:33] And so, so far we've discovered that the first covenant was destroyed by the first transgression of the first Adam. But in his grace, God entered into a second covenant with the second Adam, the last Adam, Jesus Christ.

[17:50] And like the covenant of works, the covenant of grace required perfect obedience to the covenant. But as we said, with mankind, now in any state of sin and misery because of the first Adam, there was no one to fulfil the role of covenant mediator.

[18:06] And so, in order to be the mediator of the covenant of grace, God the Son had to become the second Adam. He had to become the last Adam. God the Son had to take to himself our nature.

[18:19] He had to become man. And this is the greatest mystery in all the world, that God became man. man. And because this role of covenant mediator was so mysterious, that's why questions 36 and 37 in the larger catechism, that's why they ask, who is the mediator of the covenant of grace?

[18:42] And it says, the only mediator, just follow me as I read it there, the only mediator of the covenant of grace is the Lord Jesus Christ, who being the eternal Son of God, became of one substance and equal with the Father in the fullness of time, became man, and so was and continues to be God and man in two entire distinct natures and one person forever.

[19:06] And then question 37 asks, how did Christ being the Son of God become man? Christ the Son of God became man by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance, and born of her, yet without sin?

[19:29] And you know, although we have these succinct statements about the person of Christ, and we just accept them and we glance at them, you know these statements that we've just read, they took centuries to produce.

[19:43] They took centuries to produce because the early church fathers, they tirelessly debated over the person of Christ. That question, how did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?

[19:58] And they spent so much of their time, centuries, refuting heresies that plagued the church. There was the heresy of docetism, which taught that Jesus, he only seemed to be human.

[20:12] Docetism taught that Jesus, he didn't have a real physical, fleshly body. It only seemed that way. He was like a phantom. Another heresy was Arianism, which taught that Jesus was created.

[20:26] He wasn't eternal. Another heresy was Apollinarianism. You don't have to remember all this. That heresy claimed that Jesus was 50% God, 50% man.

[20:39] But the truth was he was 100% God, 100% man. Another heresy was Eutychianism, taught that when Christ became man, it just became a mixture, and he became this superhuman.

[20:53] Another heresy, which was at the other end of the spectrum, was Nestorianism, which wanted to separate the divine and human nature. They would say that when Jesus did miracles, that was his divine nature.

[21:05] When Jesus died on the cross, that was his human nature, dying on the cross. And sometimes we can fall into that trap too. We separate Jesus. But the Bible is clear. When God became man, he was 100% God and 100% man.

[21:23] He was, and this is the beauty of it, he still is the God-man. He is the God-man. And it's the greatest mystery of our mediator, that he has two distinct natures in one person forever.

[21:41] And so when we read these statements in the catechisms or in the confession, when we read these things about the person of Christ, they were written to defend against heresies of Docetism, Apollinarianism, Manarianism, and all these other heresies.

[21:58] And I tell you, there's not expecting you to remember these heresies or their names, but so that we'll see that all these creeds and all these confessions that we're looking at tonight, they are the result of centuries of hard work.

[22:12] and that we are privileged to have all these creeds and all these confessions. And speaking of confessions, we could probably confess that we don't look at them as much as we should.

[22:26] We're privileged to have them and that's why we should seek to uphold them because they are, as we say, they are our subordinate standard. They're subordinate to the word of God, but these are documents which emphasize to us the teaching of the Bible.

[22:44] And if you've never read the catechism or the confession, then read it. Read the larger catechism. Read the shorter catechism. Read it and reread it.

[22:55] Because we're often tempted to think that these things are either old-fashioned or outdated or they're only for ministers and elders. But they're written for everyone. The larger catechism was written for adults.

[23:09] The shorter catechism was written for children. That makes us realize where we are spiritually. We struggle with the shorter catechism. I do, I know. And, you know, at one time, every home in our land owned a Bible and a confession of faith and the Westminster catechisms.

[23:29] That's how people learned their theology. That's how they came to know more and more about the Saviour who loved them and gave himself for them. catechism. Catechism 36 and 37, they present to us the mysterious union of God and man as the mediator of the covenant of grace.

[23:49] And that he is the eternal son of God, one substance equal with the father. He became man, so continues to be God and man in two entire distinct natures, one person forever.

[24:03] And he took to himself a true body, a reasonable soul, conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost and the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance, born of her yet without sin.

[24:15] My friend, the incarnation, it really is a mystery. And you know, the mystery of the incarnation, it's not something for us to work out. It's something for us to wonder at.

[24:28] That's what it should be. The incarnation, it's not something for us to work out. It's something for us to wonder at. And that brings us to our final heading, the mandatory mediator.

[24:40] Consider the mistaken mediator who was the first Adam, but consider the mysterious mediator who was the second Adam. But lastly, I like us to consider the mandatory mediator.

[24:51] The mandatory mediator. There is one God, there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.

[25:02] Which is the testimony given at the proper time. Now in the back of your sheet, I've given you the quote from B.B. Warfield. He was an American theologian and he said, the glory of the incarnation is that it presents to our adoring gaze, not a humanised God or a deified man, but a true God man.

[25:25] One who is all that God is and at the same time all that man is. One on whose almighty arm we can rest and to whose human sympathy we can appeal.

[25:39] And you know, Warfield, he captures for us not only the beauty of the incarnation, but also the mandatory role of our mediator. Because our mediator of the covenant of grace, as our mediator, Jesus had to be both God and man.

[25:57] He had to be the God man. Because as you know, the role of a mediator is to reconcile two parties that are at enmity with one another. And so the mandatory role of our mediator is to reconcile sinners with a holy God.

[26:14] And we know that it's because of our sin that we are at enmity with God. Because God is of purer writhe and to behold iniquity and to look upon sin. God hates sin. And yet Paul reminds us here that holy God and sinful man, they are able to be reconciled together by the mediator.

[26:35] The mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. And so it's only because Jesus Christ is both God and man that reconciliation can take place.

[26:46] It's only because Jesus can relate to both parties that peace can be achieved. It's only because Jesus has two distinct natures in one person that we can be made sons and daughters of God.

[27:03] And this is what the catechism picks up on. And questions 38 and 39. It picks up upon the fact that it was mandatory for the mediator to possess two distinct natures.

[27:17] Question 38 draws our attention to the divinity of Christ by asking why was it requisite, why was it mandatory that the mediator should be God?

[27:30] And the catechism gives us this wonderful answer. it was requisite that the mediator should be God, that he might sustain and keep the human nature from sinking under the infinite wrath of God and the power of death, give worth and efficacy to his sufferings, obedience and intercession, and to satisfy God's justice, procure his favour, purchase a peculiar people, give his spirit to them, conquer all their enemies, and bring them to everlasting salvation.

[28:01] Now we don't have time to look at this catechism in detail, but what it's stressing to us is that it was mandatory for our mediator to be God in order to preserve us, to protect us, to pray for us, and to provide for us.

[28:18] Our mediator is God so that he will preserve, protect, pray and provide for us. And all those blessings, they are bound up in the promise of salvation.

[28:32] But then the catechism draws our attention to the humanity of Christ by asking, why was it requisite? Why was it mandatory that the mediator should be man?

[28:43] And the catechism says that it was requisite, it was mandatory that the mediator should be man, that he might advance our nature, perform obedience to the law, suffer and make intercession for us in our nature, have a fellow feeling of our infirmities, that we might receive the adoption of sons and have comfort and access with boldness unto the throne of grace.

[29:07] And again, we don't have time to go into it in detail, but in a word, the catechism is reminding us again that it was mandatory for our mediator to become man so that he could preserve, protect, pray and provide for us.

[29:23] And the reason Jesus preserves, protects, prays and provides in both his divinity and his humanity is because he had to mediate between both divinity and humanity in one person.

[29:39] There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And this is why the catechism then asks, just follow me with this, I hope I don't lose you, I just find this amazing.

[29:54] Why was it requisite, why was it mandatory that the mediator should be God and man in one person? And it says, it was requisite that the mediator who was to reconcile God and man should himself be both God and man, and this in one person, that the proper works of each nature might be accepted of God for us, and be relied on by us, as the works of the whole person.

[30:23] You know, it's a beautiful statement. And it just reinforces what Warfield was saying, that the glory of the incarnation is that it presents to our adoring gaze not a humanised God or a deified man, but a true God man, one who is all that God is and at the same time all that man is, one on whose almighty arm we can rest and to whose human sympathy we can appeal.

[30:52] And, you know, understanding the person of Jesus just a little more, you know, it should make us realise how much God has done for us. But, you know, it should also make us realise how much we are loved by God.

[31:09] That God would go to this extent, of becoming like us in order to save us. This is how much we are loved.

[31:24] And, that's what question 41 is all about. It says, why was our mediator called Jesus? Our mediator was called Jesus because he saves his people from their sins.

[31:37] The angel said to Mary, call his name Jesus, call him saviour, call him salvation, call his name Jesus, for he shall save their people from their sins.

[31:48] But, he's not only called Jesus, because as Peter confessed, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Why is he called the Christ?

[32:01] Why is our mediator called the Christ? It says there in question 42, our mediator was called Christ because he was anointed with the Holy Ghost above measure, and so set apart and fully furnished with all authority and ability to execute the offices of prophet, priest and king of his church in the estate, both of his humiliation and exaltation.

[32:26] Our mediator was called Christ because he was Christed, he was anointed, he was set apart, he was given the responsibility and the office of prophet, prophet to reveal salvation, he was given the office of a priest to provide salvation by offering himself as a sacrifice for sin, and he was given the office of a king to establish salvation through the resurrection.

[32:57] My friend, our mediator executed his offices of prophet, priest and king in order to accomplish it through his estate, as it says there, of both his humiliation and exaltation.

[33:14] He was humiliated, he humbled himself, as Paul says to the Philippians in chapter two, he humbled himself by making himself nothing, of no reputation, taking upon himself the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, fashion of a man, he humbles himself by becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

[33:42] The humiliation of Christ from glory to Golgotha, down, down, down. Our mediator of the covenant of grace humbled himself from glory to Golgotha in order to give himself as a ransom for all.

[34:03] But you know he was not only humbled, this is the beauty of it, he was also exalted, highly exalted, raised from the dead. Paul says in Philippians 2, God has highly exalted him, bestowed in him a name that is above every other name, so that the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth, and in hell itself, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

[34:29] My friend, our mediator, he's a beautiful mediator, and all I want for you tonight is to see him as a beautiful mediator, and for you to love him more, because he became like us, in order to relate to us, and all our weaknesses, but not only that, he became like us in order to redeem us, to redeem us from our sin.

[34:59] our mediator has been touched with a feeling of our infirmities, he was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin, and it's because of our mediator of the covenant of grace, that's why the writer to the Hebrews says, that we are urged to come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may first of all obtain mercy, and then find grace to help in time of need, and Paul is saying to us, that's why you should pray for your community, that's why you should evangelize your community, because the mediator of the covenant of grace, he urges you, and he enables you to come boldly to his throne of grace, so why can we come?

[35:53] Because there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. May the Lord bless these thoughts to us.

[36:05] Let us pray. O Lord, our gracious God, we bless and we praise thee for thy word, for the reminder that even when we pray, we have one who stands on our behalf, one who has done in us and for us, exceedingly, abundantly, and above all, more than we could ask or even think.

[36:31] We thank thee, Lord, that Christ stands on our behalf, that he is our mediator, that he is our advocate with the Father, that he is one in whom we come and in whose name we pray.

[36:44] We bless thee, O Lord, for his incarnation, that he came to be like us, to be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, to understand all that we go through in life, to face and to see death itself, to see the sorrows of life, to understand the pains and the sufferings, but not only that, to die in our place, to die the death that we don't have to die, and we bless thee and we praise thee that he is a great saviour and help us, Lord, to love him more, help us to see him better, help us to walk with him more closely, to love him more deeply and to serve him more earnestly, all that we would pray for our community, knowing that we have a great mediator, a great high priest, that we would evangelise our community, that we would speak to those in our homes and in our families, O Lord, that we would pray for them, knowing that we have one who stands beside us, one who upholds us, one who promises to speak through us when we speak, help us then to do everything, to do everything in his power, knowing that with him all things are possible,

[38:00] O Lord, bless us together, remember us we ask, remember us we heard tonight, those who are mourning, O Lord, we pray especially for that family, having lost a son, and Lord, we can only imagine what it's like, but we pray that thou would bring comfort, bind up the brokenhearted, heal their wounds, that they would know Jesus, the friend of sinners, the one in whom we are able to cast every care upon, because he cares for us, guide us, Lord, we pray, keep us at thy footstool, for Lord, adored one who is able to do all things for thine own glory, do us good, we ask, for Jesus sake, Amen.

[38:49] We shall conclude by singing the words of Psalm 130, Psalm 130, page 421, in the Scottish Psalter, we'll sing the whole Psalm, this is a song of ascent, it begins in the depths and ends in the heights, but I love verses 3 and 4, they remind us so clearly about our mediator, Lord, who shall stand, if thou Lord should mark iniquity, that none of us could, but yet, because we have a mediator, with thee forgiveness is, that feared thou mayest be, that's the wonder of it, we have a mediator between God and men, so Psalm 130, the whole psalm, to God's praise, Lord, from the death to hear thy cry my voice toward to hear unto myverb h 박its людям and age

[40:23] Williams and他们 Peter to speak hull and hear всю Christ com EU organizationalаже thanks toMs 2022 of Mary nos sitting with I can't with thee forgive, I can't with thee forgive, I can't with thee forgive, I wait for God, My soul doth wait, My hope is in His word,

[41:28] More than they that are mourning, Watch my soul whisper the Lord, I say, O'er than they that to watch, The mourning I do see, Let this triumph open the Lord, For with Him mercy be,

[42:28] Let He us redemption, And from all His iniquities, The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, The love of God the Father, 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.

[43:17] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[43:28] Amen. Amen.