Every Spiritual Blessing

[0:00] Well if we could this evening with the Lord's help and guidance, if we could turn back to that portion of scripture that we read, Paul's letter to the Ephesians in chapter 1.

[0:15] Ephesians chapter 1 and if we take as our text this evening verse 3. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

[0:38] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

[0:49] When I was in the Free Church College, training to be a minister, or ETS as it's now called, Edinburgh Theological Seminary, in college I not only had the privilege of sitting under some of the best theological minds in the country, I also had the privilege of meeting many different people from many different backgrounds.

[1:17] There was a girl from Japan who was training to be a missionary in the Free Church College. There were two men from South Korea who were training to be ministers.

[1:29] There was Suraj, as many of you know, he's from Nepal. And there was Andrew Longwee, who was with us at the Communions last March. He came from Lanarkshire slash Malawi.

[1:40] And there were others who were there who were from Stirling, some from Edinburgh, and of course there was our own Thomas Davis, who comes from the Isle of Lewis.

[1:51] But there was one man in particular who became a close friend of mine, and he came from the heart of Glasgow. He called it Brigton. It was Bridgeton.

[2:02] I don't know how people would pronounce it, but he always called it Brigton. And he was your typical Glaswegian, if there is such a thing. But he was a lovely guy. But as with many young people growing up in the east end of Glasgow, he had a hard life.

[2:18] He didn't know who his father was, and his mother was living with another man. But he was converted at the age of 12, listening to a school assembly by being given by a Liberal Church of Scotland minister.

[2:32] And then by the age of 14, he had read all of Calvin's Institutes, which if you've never seen before, or you've never read before, it's over a thousand pages long, and it's full of theology from beginning to end.

[2:45] And he used to just devour theological books, as if it was just like eating a packet of crisps to him. Then at the age of 16, he moved out of his house because he refused to live under the same roof as a man who wasn't married to his mother.

[3:01] And as you would expect, a 16-year-old trying to fend for himself and have an education and keep down a job, it wasn't easy. But he managed. And he managed to get through college.

[3:13] He managed to cope with me. And now at the age of only 30, he's a minister in Grand Rapids in the United States. And he's recently got married to an American girl, only last March.

[3:26] But when we were in college, every morning, I would ask Craig, How are you? Simple question. And his response would always be the same.

[3:37] It was never, I'm fine or I'm not bad. He would always say, Murdo, my brother, I'm blessed. I'm blessed. And every time Craig said those words, in one way he always rebuked me because he attributed everything he had to the Lord.

[3:57] But in another way, he always reminded me of what we have in Jesus Christ. Because from a very young age, Craig knew that he was a miserable sinner and that Christ was an all-sufficient saviour.

[4:12] And for that very reason, when you would ask Craig how he is, he would say, I'm blessed. I'm blessed. And this evening, I'd like us to remind ourselves, as Paul did with the Ephesians, that in Christ, we have received every spiritual blessing in heavenly places.

[4:35] And this teaching, it flows from what we've been considering over the past few weeks in the catechism. And so I'd like us to see from this catechism, catechism number 36, and from what Paul writes here in Ephesians 1, I want us to see that there are five blessings which we receive in order to assure us that we are Christians.

[4:58] Five blessings which we receive in order to assure us that we are Christians. And by looking at them, I hope that we will leave here saying with Craig, I'm blessed.

[5:12] I'm blessed. And so the five blessings are, God loves me, Jesus died for me, the Spirit lives in me, the Lord is good to me, and my Saviour is keeping me.

[5:23] God loves me, Jesus died for me, the Spirit lives in me, the Lord is good to me, and my Saviour is keeping me. So we look first of all, at the first blessing.

[5:38] God loves me. God loves me. Read again at verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.

[5:53] That we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love 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.

[6:10] And so when Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, he didn't write his letter in order to address any particular heresy or issue within the church. Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians in order to strengthen them and to encourage them in their faith.

[6:27] Paul had spent three years ministering to them, and so Paul wants to strengthen the Ephesians in their faith and encourage them to keep on going. And he does so by reminding them of who they are and what they have in and through Jesus Christ.

[6:44] That they have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. But when Paul wrote his letter, he didn't waste any time with formalities or introductions.

[6:58] He just had a quick word of greeting right at the beginning to all his former parishioners, and then he dives straight into the main body, reminding them all about God's wonderful salvation.

[7:12] And when you read this opening chapter in his letter, it seems that Paul is so overwhelmed by the sovereignty and beauty of God in our salvation, it's that he gets carried away with himself.

[7:26] And it's as if he forgets to stop and just to take a breath. And I say that because when Paul begins verse 3, he doesn't end it until verse 14.

[7:38] Paul is so excited and he's so overwhelmed when he speaks on the topic of God's salvation that he writes the longest sentence in the Bible.

[7:50] And if you're reading from the authorized version, you'll notice that there are no full stops between verse 3 and verse 14. And that's the way it's written in the original language in Greek.

[8:00] It's all one long sentence. And it's one sentence because it's one statement about every spiritual blessing which the Christian receives through Jesus Christ.

[8:13] And Paul is writing to these Ephesian Christians, and he's saying, this is the greatest blessing. that the God of heaven has sovereignly intervened in our lives and he has saved us.

[8:26] He has plucked us as brands from the burning and he has drawn us to himself. And Paul emphasizes that the marvel of this is that we had no part to play in it.

[8:37] God has done it all for us. There was nothing we could do to save ourselves. There was nothing we could do to receive these spiritual blessings. But God has worked in our heart by the Holy Spirit in which the Holy Spirit has applied the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross by working faith in us.

[8:57] And through the work of the Holy Spirit, he has changed us. He has transformed us. He has made us into a new creation where the old has passed away and all has become new.

[9:11] And what Paul is encouraging the Ephesian believers with here, it's what we've been looking at in the catechism for the past few weeks. That the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is applied to us by the Holy Spirit.

[9:28] Where the Holy Spirit, he works faith in us by revealing Jesus to us, by illuminating and exalting Jesus before us in the gospel.

[9:38] And we said that the Holy Spirit does this by regeneration, by making us alive again. He does it by our union with Christ in which we are inseparably united to Jesus.

[9:54] He does it by our effectual calling where we hear the gospel, we hear the call to come to Christ, pressing upon our heart. And because we respond to that effectual call, we receive all the benefits of it.

[10:09] And our status as a sinner changes. We are declared righteous in God's sight because of our justification. We are declared a son or a daughter of our Heavenly Father by our adoption.

[10:25] And in our sanctification, we are changed from being a sinner to a saint. We are moulded and reshaped like the clay into the image of Jesus Christ. And this change in our life, it's a remarkable change.

[10:39] It's all of grace, from beginning to end. But as Paul says, these spiritual blessings, they accompany and flow from this transformation in the life of a believer.

[10:55] And he says that it was all done in love. All these spiritual blessings, we receive them out of love. And that's what Paul is saying here.

[11:07] He's saying, 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 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.

[11:26] He has done it all in love. He has done it all in love. And Paul is saying to them, can't you see that God loves you?

[11:38] Because he has worked in your heart. He has made you alive. He has united you to Jesus. He has called you in the gospel. He has declared you righteous in his sight.

[11:48] He has named you as his child. And he is going to keep on working in you to make you more and more like Jesus until you leave this world. And Paul is saying, what kind of God does that?

[12:04] Except a God who loves you. Where you have been drawn to him in love. And you've been accepted in the beloved. You've been accepted in the beloved.

[12:17] And you know, it's no wonder that when Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome who were being persecuted for their faith, he reminded them that God's love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which has been given to us.

[12:34] His love has been poured into our heart. It has been shed abroad in our heart. He has filled us with his love. Not only that we'll love one another, but that we will love God.

[12:47] So my friend, are you assured of God's love for you? Are you assured of God's love for you? Can you say, God loves me? God loves me.

[13:00] We sang in our opening item of praise, Psalm 116, those precious words which many people love to sing. I love the Lord because my voice.

[13:10] And prayers he did here. I, while I live, will call on him who bowed to me his ear. And I'm sure that many of you will confess that you love the Lord.

[13:23] And you love him because of who he is and what he has done for you in Jesus Christ. But are you assured that God loves you? Are you assured that God loves you?

[13:35] Well, you should be. You should be. Not only because you would never say that you love God without him first loving you and working in your heart.

[13:46] That's what John reminds us. We love him because he first loved us. But more than that, you can be assured tonight that God loves you not only because you love him, but because God has demonstrated his love for you in the death of Jesus Christ.

[14:08] And that's what Paul wrote to the church in Rome. He only went a few verses along and then he assured them that God's love which has been poured into your hearts by the Holy Spirit, he went on to affirm that that love, that love, it has been displayed to us.

[14:26] It has been demonstrated to us. in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Which means that we should not only be able to say God loves me.

[14:39] We should also be able to say Jesus died for me. Jesus died for me. Which is the second spiritual blessing that we receive in order to assure us that we are Christians.

[14:55] God loves me and Jesus died for me. So Jesus died for me. He says in verse 7, 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 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.

[15:31] And you know, when the apostle John, this is Paul, but when John was writing to the same church, the church in Ephesus, he was writing about God's love for them.

[15:43] And he wrote, here in his love, this is love. This is what love looks like. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and that he sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins.

[15:59] And that's what Paul is affirming to the Ephesians here too. That the love of God for sinners such as you and me, it has been demonstrated to us through the fulfillment of his plan.

[16:12] And Paul says, in him, we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. In him, in Jesus Christ, in his finished work, we have been bought back.

[16:27] We have been ransomed from slavery to sin. We have been exchanged, the righteous, for the unrighteous. We've been redeemed from the curse of the law.

[16:39] My friend, we have been redeemed. And we've been redeemed not with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. Because he entered into the most holy place, not with the blood of bulls or of goats, but with his own blood, once for all.

[16:59] Because he is the Lamb of God who was without blemish and without spot, who came to take away the sins of the world and obtain an eternal redemption. How?

[17:10] By bearing our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin could live unto righteousness. And my friend, this is what Isaiah was prophesying would happen.

[17:25] That the Redeemer of God's people would be wounded for our transgressions. He would be bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement which was due to us for our sin, it was laid on him.

[17:39] And all we, like sheep, we've gone astray, we've turned everyone to his own way. And yet, and yet the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all.

[17:52] My friend, this is love so amazing, so divine, that we have the assurance that we can say, Jesus died for me. Jesus died for me.

[18:05] Can you say that? Jesus died for me. But you know, Paul doesn't leave it there.

[18:16] He goes on to remind these Christians that the death of Jesus on the cross was no accident. He says that it was all accomplished according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight.

[18:32] the redemption purchased by Jesus Christ. It was his plan. Which means that the death of Jesus wasn't an accident or a random chance event.

[18:46] No, says the New Testament, no, he was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. He was delivered. God did it. And it was Octavius Winslow, he was one of the 19th century evangelistic preachers of his time.

[19:06] And he asked one question, who delivered Jesus up to die? Who delivered Jesus up to die? And he says it wasn't Judas for money, it wasn't Pilate for fear, it wasn't the Jews for envy or even the Romans for the hardness of their heart, but it was the Father for love.

[19:28] He delivered Jesus up to die. He delivered him, that's what Paul is saying, he delivered him according to the 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.

[19:49] It was his plan, it was the Father's plan which the Son executed in his perfect obedience all so that we would have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

[20:05] And my friend, that's our assurance tonight that God loves us, that whilst we were yet sinners, whilst we were still strangers to grace and to God, Christ died for us.

[20:18] And that the great plan of redemption which was agreed in the realms of eternity, it is now the greatest provision and the greatest promise for us as sinners, that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

[20:34] Which is the very reason why we are urged in the gospel to come and find rest for our souls. Because in the redemption purchased by Christ we have forgiveness of all sins, we have peace with God, we have grace by the way, glory in the end.

[20:53] that's the gracious provision which God has promised to us. And we are being assured tonight that Jesus has accomplished it all for us.

[21:07] Is it any wonder that the hymn writer wrote, Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine, oh what a foretaste of glory divine, heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his spirit, washed in his blood.

[21:26] My friend, can you say that of yourself tonight? That God loves me and Jesus died for me. You should be able to say it of yourself.

[21:41] Because it's true. God loves me and Jesus died for me. But as a believer loved by God the Father and trusting in Jesus the Son, you cannot only say God loves me and Jesus died for me, but you can also say the spirit lives in me.

[22:03] Which is the third spiritual blessing we receive in order to assure us that we are Christians. God loves me, Jesus died for me, and the spirit lives in me.

[22:14] The spirit lives in me. If you jump down to verse 13, Paul says, in him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, or the spirit of promise.

[22:36] And Paul's logical progression in understanding our salvation is that if the Father loves me, and Jesus died for me, then the Holy Spirit lives in me.

[22:46] And Paul explains to these Ephesian Christians how the Holy Spirit lives in a believer. Because he says that when we heard the word of truth, we heard it in our effectual calling.

[23:01] When we were called by the word of truth, the Bible, when the Bible was being preached, when we were being called to embrace Jesus Christ as he was offered to us in the gospel, and when the Holy Spirit was pressing upon our hearts the message of salvation, that message became gospel to us.

[23:22] It became good news to us, because by the work of the Spirit, we were convinced of our sin and misery. We were persuaded that the condition which we were in, and we were persuaded how bad it really was, that we have sinned and come short of God's glory, and our sin, it's going to take us all the way to hell if we don't deal with it.

[23:47] But when we heard this good news, and the Holy Spirit was working in our heart, we were brought to believe this glorious gospel of grace. But we not only believed it, we drank it in, and it became a life-giving well of salvation overflowing in our heart.

[24:09] And where we were once dead to the things of God, and blind to the things of Christ, and deaf to the voice of the shepherd, and uninterested in singing praise to God, just sitting there in church, no interest at all.

[24:23] But now, now we have been filled with the love of God as it has been poured into our heart. We've been washed in the blood of Christ, made white as snow.

[24:34] We've been filled with the Holy Spirit who has not only made us alive, but he's opened our eyes that we may see the wonder of the cross. He's unstopped our ears to hear the voice of Jesus speaking to us in the gospel.

[24:49] He has loosed our tongues that we can cry aloud and rejoice because the Savior has risen. But more than that, the Holy Spirit has made us realize that we are righteous in God's sight.

[25:04] We are adopted in the beloved, and we are being made more and more like Jesus every single day. But my friend, there's more than that, even more than that, so much more because with every passing day as a believer, with the Holy Spirit working in my heart, he's making Jesus more and more precious to me.

[25:29] He's convicting me of my sin and showing me the misery of my condition but also the beauty of my Savior. And he assures me that every promise in his word is mine to claim and mine to cling to.

[25:43] And he affirms to me that Christ is mine and I am his. And that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers neither things present nor things to come neither height nor depth nor any other creature he says will ever be able to separate me from his love.

[26:05] because he has promised and he is faithful that he will never ever leave me and he will never ever forsake me.

[26:17] Oh my friend this is what we experience when the Holy Spirit lives in me. But just in case we doubt which we often do and just in case we question which can happen and just in case we think it impossible which may it may seem to be Paul says that we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise and that seal it's the seal of the king in which he puts his own stamp of approval upon his own work not only to affirm his ownership and that the full payment price has been met but also that his work in the heart of a believer is his work and that his work is authentic and it's genuine and that in Christ we are complete we are being sealed by the king with the

[27:25] Holy Spirit of promise and you know this is what ought to bring joy into the life of the believer that because we are sealed with the Holy Spirit we should have joy in our salvation that we're able to rejoice in the Lord always we're able to rejoice when we are rejoicing and we are able to rejoice when we are sorrowing because whatever our lot he has taught us to say it is well it is well with our soul whatever our lot we have the assurance that the joy of the Lord is our strength we have joy knowing that we can say God loves me Jesus died for me the Spirit lives in me and the Lord is good to me the Lord is good to me and that's the fourth blessing we receive in order to assure us that we're

[28:32] Christians God loves me Jesus died for me the Spirit lives in me and the Lord is good to me the Lord is good to me look at verse 11 he says in him we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory for Paul everything we have received from God it is completely undeserved every spiritual blessing in Christ it has been graciously given to us but what Paul reminds the Ephesian Christians here is that these spiritual blessings which we have obtained they are not only there for us today but they're also there for us every single day he says they are our inheritance they are our heritage for today and every day and because every spiritual blessing in Christ is ours today it's ours ten years from today and twenty years from today and it's not it not only assures us that what

[29:59] God has done in our lives is precious and eternal it also shows us that when we ebb and flow and when we feel weak and downcast and when we feel distant from the Lord and sinful and when we feel sorrowful and broken when we feel we're useless to the Lord and undeserving of the least of his mercies and we feel that we fail him so much and let him down all the time Paul reminds us to consider our inheritance because it's an inheritance that doesn't change and it's an inheritance which is always filling us up filling us up like a cup to the point that it's running over where it's always sufficient we're never lacking we're never left wanting and as you know that was David's experience in Psalm 23 when he confessed the Lord is my shepherd he had the assurance that he shall not want he shall not lack any good thing because David knew that the good shepherd would be good to him and lead him through every experience in life whether it was to feed at the green pastures or to drink beside the still waters or even if he had to walk through the valley of the shadow of death

[31:31] David had the assurance that the Lord who was his shepherd would be with him to comfort him and that with every step the Lord's provision and David's inheritance it would be sufficient for him it would be like his head being anointed with oil and his cup running over with joy anointed with the oil of blessing and over flowing with joy and that's what Paul experienced too he was tormented by a thorn in the flesh he called it a messenger from Satan and it caused him so much heartache and he pleaded with the Lord to remove it from him but I just love what the Lord told Paul and reminded him in the midst of all his weakness the Lord said to

[32:34] Paul my grace is sufficient for you my strength is made perfect in weakness and although he knew he was frail and weak Paul took the Lord at his word and he clung to his promise because he said I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me for the sake of Christ I am content with weaknesses insults hardships persecutions and calamities for when I am weak then I am strong and what Paul was taught by the Lord was that the Lord would always fill him up and he would never lack any grace grace to help in time of need the Lord's grace would always be sufficient form and my friend is that not your testimony tonight as a sheep of the good shepherd that since you began following the

[33:41] Lord you have never lacked you have never been in want your cup has never run dry because whatever you have had to go through in life you always knew that his hand was in it and that he was not a far off but the one who was upholding you all the time by his sufficient grace and maybe in the darkest of circumstances were you not left echoing the words of the psalmist in psalm 3 which we were singing earlier where you could say of the Lord you are my strength and my glory you are the lifter up of my head you are the one who answers my cries you are the God who sustains me because salvation alone belongs to you and the blessing of the Lord it's upon your people and through it all through all the tears and all the hardships and all the trials and all the illnesses and the pains and the sorrows you still testify that his amazing grace has never fallen short and you say with every travelling pilgrim going to the new

[35:04] Jerusalem the Lord is good to me the Lord is good to me or is it not true that you not only say the Lord is good to me you also say my saviour is keeping me my saviour is keeping me it's the fifth and final spiritual blessing that we receive in order to assure us that we're Christians God loves me Jesus died for me the spirit lives in me the Lord is good to me and my saviour is keeping me my saviour is keeping me that's what Paul says in verse 14 the Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory Paul concludes the longest sentence in the

[36:08] Bible by reminding the Christians at Ephesus that every spiritual blessing which they have received in Christ it will be kept for them until they receive it in all its fullness in glory he says that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it in heaven and the imagery which Paul is using is that of a deposit like when you put down a deposit on a house or a car or a holiday you only when you put down a deposit you only paying a percentage of the full price but by paying the deposit you are guaranteeing the owner of the company that you are going to pay in full the required price and so what Paul is saying is that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who assures us that God loves us and Jesus died for us the

[37:09] Holy Spirit is our deposit he is our guarantee that we will one day receive in full the inheritance which has been promised to us the inheritance of every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ but at this present time it is an inheritance which is being preserved for us in heaven in heaven it is guaranteed it is being preserved and you know this is what Peter also talks about in his first letter because when he writes to all these churches who are being persecuted for their faith he says blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is incorruptible undefiled that does not fade away and is reserved in heaven for you but for

[38:18] Peter he not only emphasizes that there is a guaranteed inheritance being kept in heaven for us he also says that we are those who are being kept for our inheritance he says you will one day receive an inheritance that is incorruptible undefined that does not fade away reserved in heaven for you but at this present moment now you are being kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed at the day of Christ you are being kept by by the power of God and that is the great blessing and promise which we have in Christ we are being kept we are being kept we're not keeping ourselves we are being kept

[39:20] I always remember speaking with an older Christian maybe I've told you this before she had been following the Lord for many years and she had struggled with an illness but she had to try and cope with every day of her life and I remember just asking her the simple question the same question I asked Craig how are you and like Craig she didn't say I'm fine or the usual not I'm being kept I'm being kept and it wasn't until later that I came to realize that her answer arose out of a life which was being lived in complete dependence upon the Lord she knew the promise of Psalm 121 that the Lord shall keep thy soul he shall preserve thee from all ill hence forth thy going out and God keep forever will she knew the promise and my friend that is the affirmation of all of

[40:29] God's people through life and through death my saviour is keeping me my saviour is keeping me because in him I have received every spiritual blessing in heavenly places therefore as Christians we can say with full confidence and assurance tonight God loves me Jesus died for me the spirit lives in me the Lord is good to me and my saviour is keeping me and so when I ask you at the door how are you I want you to respond like Craig would and say I'm blessed I'm blessed but if you can't say that why not because it's not that these blessings aren't being held out to you in the gospel it's that you haven't come to embrace them for yourself so how are you

[41:53] I hope that you will say I'm blessed may the Lord bless these thoughts to us let us pray oh Lord we are so undeserving of the least of thy mercies but we thank thee and we praise thee that oh that everything that has been given to us it has been given to us by thy grace that we aren't none of it that we cannot put our name to any of it but all of it has been written and sealed and signed in Christ help us then to lay hold of it because it has been gifted to us in the gospel and help us Lord to cling to it every day to be reminded that thou art the God who is so good to us who watches over us and who blesses us beyond our asking and beyond our thinking help us Lord to keep walking the narrow path that leads to life and to keep clinging to the

[42:57] Saviour who loved us and who gave himself for us go before us then we pray bless our time together in fellowship one with another and Lord we do pray that in all things that are said and done may it be for thy glory for we ask it in Jesus name and for his sake Amen we shall conclude by singing in Psalm 103 Psalm 103 is in the Scottish Psalter Psalm 103 page 369 we're singing from the beginning down to the verse marked 5 Psalm 103 from the beginning to the verse marked 5 O thou my soul bless God the Lord and all that in me is be stirred up his holy name to magnify and bless bless

[44:01] O my soul the Lord thy God and not forgetful be of all his gracious benefits he hath bestowed on thee down to the verse marked 5 to God's praise O thou my soul bless God the Lord and all that in me is be stirred up his holy name to magnify and bless bless O my soul the Lord thy God and not forget to be upon his gracious benefit he have betoned on thee all thine iniquity to die most graciously for him who thy deceases all and gain doth feel and be released who doth redeem thy life the love to death may not go down to thee with love be kind and love and tender mercies come who with abundance and soft of good things doth satisfy thy mouth so that he blast the eagle tinge renew it is thy youth the grace of the

[46:53] Lord Jesus Christ the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forever more amen