[0:00] I said earlier I was greatly surprised that this portion of scripture was laid upon my mind and my heart to preach, because I know many of you, if not all of you here, know this experience of the new birth, have been converted to Christ, although maybe there's one or two who have not yet come completely to faith in Christ and need to hear this portion of scripture concerning Nicodemus.
[0:30] But if you are a Christian, you are born again, maybe it's an opportunity to sit in awe and to consider again the marvellous way that God has dealt with you in your life, especially bringing you out of darkness into this most wonderful light of Christ.
[0:54] I know Barthas is not a huge area, but I could say, where are all the people? Well, I could say that. Well, all the people are not here because they don't know Jesus Christ.
[1:07] They're not in love with Christ. He hasn't touched their lives. Their hearts have not been opened. But you're here tonight. You're here because of the grace of God.
[1:18] Not because of any goodness in you or me. You're here because of the grace of God that he touched your life. He opened your eyes. He opened your hearts. And he revealed yourself.
[1:29] He revealed himself to you. And so now you're able to gather in the house of God. Not only able to gather. You want to gather in the house of God.
[1:39] You want to meditate upon his word. You want to be in fellowship with the people of God. And so as we consider this experience of Nicodemus and the way the Spirit of God works in his life, because we know the Spirit of God did, because later on, if you read about Nicodemus, he comes to faith in Christ.
[1:57] And we know after the crucifixion, he comes along with Joseph of Adamathia. And he asks for the body of Christ. He's no longer hiding. He's no longer afraid.
[2:08] But his life has been changed. And now he wants to honor and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. Even in his death, he's no longer ashamed of the gospel.
[2:19] And I would suggest neither are you. Because we gather here tonight. We don't care who knows that we know the Lord Jesus Christ. Because it's so precious. It's so wonderful.
[2:30] Salvation is glorious. Not only for this life, but more so, dare we say, for the life to come. And we're living in a world, and it is getting darker and darker and darker.
[2:42] And we are becoming strangers. Maybe for years, especially here on the island, we weren't strangers, because the churches were well attended. But we are becoming strangers now, in this world, even on this island.
[2:56] It's getting darker and darker. So let's consider something of this experience of Nicodemus, and maybe it will draw one or two men or women, young people, into that place where they crave, they hunger, they thirst for Christ.
[3:13] Or on the other hand, it would just encourage us and remind us of the wonderful depths that the Lord came into to lift you and I up out of the mighty clay and the fearful pit.
[3:26] Verses 1 and 2 then, of John chapter 3, we read of the confession of Nicodemus. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.
[3:42] He came to Jesus at night and said, Rabbi, we know you are a teacher from God. No one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with you.
[3:55] A man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus. And John makes sure that we know that Nicodemus is a Pharisee.
[4:06] He is a ruler of the Jews, a leader. He is in high places. The Pharisees then were the most rigorously religious of all the Jewish groups.
[4:19] And the focus of their attention was on the outward appearance and adherence to rules instead of inward purity of the heart.
[4:32] And for this, they were often rebuked by the Lord. They would show outwardly or try and show outwardly alone that they were religious, they were scrupulous, they followed the traditions and all the rules when their hearts were cold, when their hearts were empty.
[4:52] They were jealous of Jesus because he undermined their authority and he challenged their practice. So Nicodemus then, he's a man, he's steeped in the scriptures, in the traditions and the beliefs of the most religious sect in town.
[5:13] And so one thing that Nicodemus does not need is religion. He doesn't need religion. Religion is man's search for God. Whereas Christianity is really God's search for man.
[5:28] And our salvation, our coming to faith in Christ, it doesn't begin with us, it begins with God. All other religions, all religions other than Christianity, they have a kind of point system for obtaining eternal life.
[5:46] But we are saved. We are saved not by our good works, not by our good deeds, but we are saved by Christ. Not for our good deeds, but for our misdeeds.
[5:58] For our misdeeds because we have repented of our sins. You know, it's possible to be diligent in religion and yet distance in our relationship.
[6:13] And although theoretically all religions may be wrong, they cannot all be right. They cannot all be right because each one has beliefs that claim that other religions are wrong.
[6:30] you see, the heart of religion is not an opinion about God, but it's about a personal relationship with Him.
[6:41] A personal relationship with God through faith in Christ, enabled and equipped by the Holy Spirit. And so it's possible, it's possible to be diligent in religion and have no relationship with Christ at all.
[7:00] And that's why we're encouraged and called to make our calling and election sure, to search our hearts, to study the Scriptures and not to be afraid, not to be afraid of that, but to make our calling and election sure.
[7:17] Nicodemus acknowledges or confesses that Jesus is from God because of the miracles that He did. And we read of that in chapter 2 in particular.
[7:28] The signs and wonders which Jesus did, it proved to many who met Him that He was a teacher come from God.
[7:39] And as they also said, no one spoke like this man. And that testimony of Jesus was even spoken of by His enemies. So Nicodemus sees in Jesus a genuine, divine, divine activity.
[7:58] He admits that Jesus is from God. But the devil knows that. The devil admits that Jesus is from, from God.
[8:12] And he trembles. He trembles. We're told in the Scriptures, he trembles. And there are many today, many today who say, well, I know God, I confess God, but there's no trembling.
[8:26] There's no reverence. There's no fear. And there's no awe. When you're touched by grace, when you've been touched by grace, there is a change.
[8:38] There is a change in your life. And you've come to that place where you hold God in awe. There is that reverent fear. Because you know what God can do.
[8:50] You know God can touch your life and has touched your life. There is a change. But there are so many who talk about God, even talk about Christ.
[9:01] And yet there's no change, there's no trembling, there's no fear, and there is no awe. There are those who act as though they are religious, but they will reject the power that can change their lives, that power that can bring them out of darkness into light, that can make them godly.
[9:22] And they refuse to live their lives according to his plan, his purpose, and his principles, which are laid out in the scriptures for us. As Paul writes of such, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.
[9:40] From such, turn away, having a form. A form of godliness is emptiness. It means nothing. It will get us nowhere. We're having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.
[9:54] From such turn away. You see, we're encouraged not to mix with such. We're living in a world where we have families, family members are not converted, we have colleagues at work who are not converted, but there's nothing better than coming together with God's people.
[10:09] Where you can gossip the gospel, you can share something of the truth and the doctrines of scripture, you can share testimony one with another, you can share what Christ has been doing in your life.
[10:22] There's nothing greater than that. Iron sharpens iron. So the fellowship and friendship of one Christian with another, it sharpens, it deepens, it rejoices the soul.
[10:36] So we come to this command then to Nicodemus. Nicodemus, seeing Jesus as a miracle worker sent from God, that itself, what he saw was not enough for him to enter into the kingdom of God.
[10:53] That is, into a place, the kingdom of God, here on earth where Christ enters into the heart and rules there. And so Jesus, knowing the mind of Nicodemus, as he knows the minds of all, of all men, he says to him, verily, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.
[11:20] The authorized version has it this way, verily, verily, or truly, truly, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
[11:32] Christ knew what was in the mind of Nicodemus. He knows your mind, he knows my mind. Why? Because he is the son of God.
[11:43] Though he became a man, as you and I, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, he feels our tears, he knows our pains, he knows our consciences, he's sympathetic to us when we're hurting, he is a man, but he's also, he's God, he's the son of God, he knows all things, he knows the mind of men, he knew the mind of Nicodemus, Nicodemus.
[12:09] Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. Of course, Jesus was speaking not only to Nicodemus, but he was talking to us all when he said that.
[12:23] Nicodemus wasn't a special case. You and I had to come to that place where we had to be born again, or better still, born from above.
[12:34] And there are those, as I say, maybe gathered here, maybe watching online, but many throughout the island, let alone the nation, who need to be born again.
[12:45] If they're not born again, they'll never see the kingdom of God, let alone enter into that kingdom, which again is a metaphor for a living and a loving relationship with Jesus Christ.
[12:59] That really means then without the new birth, we will not be saved, we will not be converted, we will not be part of God's family, and we'll not go to heaven.
[13:12] Instead, we will remain in our sins, we shall remain spiritually dead, and therefore we are destined for a lost eternity, for hell.
[13:23] Jesus' teaching about the new birth confronts us with our own hopeless, spiritual, moral, and legal condition apart from God's amazing, regenerating, and saving grace.
[13:44] And regeneration is just another word for the new birth, it's what brings us into the family, the family of God. You know, we cannot be changed by just altering a few habits, and perhaps before you came to faith, you tried to change a few habits, you started going to church, you even ventured to the prayer meeting, you tried to be a better person than you were, but we cannot be changed by altering a few bad habits in our lives.
[14:15] Reformation will not do. You see, the disease power of sin captures our very life system before we come to faith in Christ.
[14:27] We need to be born again, we need to experience that rebirth and to receive a brand new heart. To receive a brand new heart. You see, without God, without God, men and women are spiritually dead.
[14:43] They are morally selfish and rebellious, and they are legally guilty for breaking God's law, and therefore under his wrath.
[14:54] Paul reminds us that the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, and the God of this age.
[15:10] Its ways, its pleasures, its pleasures, its principles, its rules, it's very powerful, very strong. The God of this age is at work, blinding the minds of unbelievers.
[15:23] Without faith in Christ, we were, and without faith in Christ now, we are spiritually dead. There's no spiritual life in us at all.
[15:35] We need, or we need it to be born again spiritually. As the apostle Paul writes, the mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God.
[15:47] It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the flesh, those who are in the flesh, excuse me, those of us who are in the flesh are dead.
[16:12] We are dead spiritually. We need to be born again. Those who have seen the light of the glory of Christ, know now with great assurance because of his great love for us.
[16:26] God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ. Even when we were dead in transgressions, it is by grace you have been saved.
[16:39] We now know, we now know because we have been touched by God, by grace, by the Holy Spirit. We know something of the love, the love that God has for us.
[16:53] We never understood, we never knew how much we were loved by God until the Spirit came and opened our eyes and opened our hearts to receive that wonderful love that God has for his people, for his children.
[17:08] Regards the flesh then. In our first birth, we were born of the flesh and we were born of water. but in our second birth, in this spiritual rebirth, we are born again.
[17:24] We are born of the Spirit. And our first birth, our first birth leads only to death. But our second birth, being born again by the Spirit of God, brings eternal life, brings great blessing, brings abundant life, brings us into the family of God.
[17:45] The new birth, is a new beginning that results in a new life. New hopes, new affections, new plans, new desires, a new life that touches our whole being.
[17:59] It's not something on the side or something for Sunday. It touches our whole lives. We are recreated, we are newly created, new creatures in Christ Jesus.
[18:14] The born again carries the idea then of a fresh start in life. But more than that, it's the start of a new life.
[18:25] And that new life is sourced from heaven. A new beginning. Other terms that you and I use, or the scriptures use to describe the new birth are as simple as being saved, converted, repentant, made regenerate, and becoming new creatures in Christ.
[18:48] All of these things are in the context of being born again, or as we so often say, being born from above. God comes and does something in your life.
[18:59] He begins the process whereby we start searching and seeking for Him. The Holy Spirit shines a light into our hearts, and there we see that our hearts are deceitful above all things, and we flee, we flee to Christ for forgiveness.
[19:17] This wonderful work that the Holy Spirit does in our lives, and has done in many, if not all, of the lives of each one gathered here tonight.
[19:28] You know, you've heard such phrases as pull yourself together, or turn over a new leaf, or turn yourself around, or get a new lease on life, or even try again.
[19:43] Now, all of these refer to something that we attempt to, or do attempt to do, but a person needs to be born again. Something only that God can do in your life.
[19:57] The new birth, the new birth is not the improvement of our old human nature, but the creation of a completely new nature, nature, a nature that comes from God, that comes from above.
[20:15] Jesus, referring to the children of God, says this, as children born, not of natural descent, nor of human decision, or of a husband's will, but of God.
[20:29] Born of God. And Peter stresses the same thing. Praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
[20:51] And so the new birth, it's not natural, it's supernatural. Not natural, it's supernatural. It cannot be accounted for by anything already found in this world.
[21:06] Our own flesh, our own selves. It must come from above. It must come from outside of ourselves. And God, the Holy Spirit, must come.
[21:17] Must come upon us. And must enter into us to bring that new life into existence. And if you are a Christian this evening, that's what's happened to you.
[21:30] God, it's so amazing. Why he should look upon you and I, I don't know. But in his providence, in his plan, in his purpose, he has.
[21:42] And he's come to take up residence by his Spirit in your heart and my heart, in your life and my life. And we're not alone and never shall be alone.
[21:53] We know only too well now ours is to walk after or to seek after the things of the Spirit and not the things of the flesh because we can fall and we can fail.
[22:04] But as we seek after the things of the Spirit, we're so encouraged and we're able to understand the Scriptures and we're able to pray and able to see answered prayer, to see miracles that we never thought would ever happen in our lives.
[22:23] In fact, saving faith is not the human contribution of a sinner seeking salvation, but the divine contribution of a gracious God seeking the sinner.
[22:40] He seeks after us. And the faith with which we believe and trust is only ours because God created it within us. We have nothing to boast about.
[22:52] The Apostle Paul, the only thing the Apostle Paul could ever boast about was his own weaknesses. Because when he boasted about his own weaknesses, he experienced more and more of the strength and the power and the grace of God.
[23:07] And so you and I, we have nothing to boast about. We must always be conscious of that spirit of humility, that we are who we are in Christ because of his grace and his grace alone.
[23:23] Now, of course, all of this confused. Nicodemus. And in verse 4 he says, how can someone be born when they are old? Nicodemus asked.
[23:35] Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb to be born. Nicodemus is confusing spiritual birth with physical birth.
[23:48] As religious as he is, as well versed in the scriptures, as he is in the company of religious men, and yet he confuses spiritual birth with physical birth.
[24:04] And sometimes you and I, we expect men and women to understand what we're sharing in the gospel with them. We expect them to know more than they do.
[24:15] It's only when you and I came to faith in Christ did, dare we say, the penny dropped. And we began to understand more and more of the ways of righteousness and the ways of God and what he expects from us and how we could follow him day by day.
[24:31] We didn't know we were blind to these things. Why? Because before the new birth, we were dead. We were dead spiritually. We were dead in our transgressions and our sins.
[24:43] But then, then grace, then grace came. He confused spiritual birth with physical birth. Why was that then? Well, he lacked spiritual discernment.
[24:57] He was an unconverted and an unregenerate man. He was not born again. Therefore, he could not understand the things of God.
[25:10] And there are wonderful people, wonderful people in the church, wonderful people here on the island, wonderful people in all the areas and positions throughout the church. And yet, if they're not converted, if they're not born again, they don't really understand what it's all about.
[25:29] They don't understand that God is sovereign, that God is in control, that God has us in the palms of his hands, with the Christian in those nail pierced hands.
[25:41] And nothing can separate us now from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians, the person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, but considers them foolishness and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
[26:09] Thank God we're not asked to fully understand every aspect of the new birth. But we are asked to acknowledge our need of salvation, our need of forgiveness, and then to believe the gospel message of Christ, who suffered and died and rose again for his people.
[26:33] And when we do that, we come to realize that we can never ever separate faith in Christ from the new birth in Jesus Christ.
[26:45] We can never separate faith in Christ from the new birth in Christ. They go together. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.
[27:00] And everyone who loves the Father loves his child as well. Our first birth, or man's first natural birth, causes him to sink downward.
[27:16] And we see that in a world that's getting technically amazing. There are things that have been invented, there are things that have been done, organizations, and there's finance, and this and that, and look at the state of our world.
[27:29] It's collapsing. That's because of natural birth. But a second birth, a spiritual new birth causes men and women to rise, to rise upwardly.
[27:42] The first birth is earthly. It's the second birth that is heavenly, and means something, and looks to God for protection and guidance.
[27:55] And no wonder we can sing in these days, God is our refuge and our strength, a very present aid in times of trouble. You see, we have that written upon our hearts, because our hearts are new hearts, they are God's new hearts.
[28:13] Paul writes into the Ephesians, but even though we were dead in our sins, God who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, gave us life together with Christ.
[28:27] Remember, by grace, and not by achievement, you are saved. So God loved us. God loved us even when we were dead in sins.
[28:38] His love does not depend upon what we are. It flows from his own heart, his own purpose.
[28:49] It is not love of something good that is in you and I. It's love of us because of everything that is good in him. This is amazing grace.
[29:01] This is the height and depth of the glory of salvation that you and I have. It wasn't our love for him. It was his love for us. And there we see the greatness.
[29:12] The greatness of his grace. He loved us even when we were dead in our sins. John Calvin writes, when God desires to forgive us, he changes our hearts and turns us to obedience by his spirit.
[29:30] Sinners cannot obey the gospel, any more than the law without a renewed heart. Listen, we are not born again because we repent and confess that Jesus is Lord.
[29:42] We repent and confess Jesus is Lord because we have been born again. He made us alive when we were dead in sin.
[29:53] Nicodemus just couldn't understand these wonderful truths. And though you and I at one time never understood them, though the world even now doesn't understand them, we must proclaim them, we must preach them, praying that the Holy Spirit would take of these words, would take of these sermons which many men preach in these days, you must be born again.
[30:16] And open blind eyes and soften hard hearts and apply that word, apply that truth into the souls of those who are lost.
[30:29] Nicodemus just couldn't understand and there seems to be a sarcastic vibe in his reply. But surely he's not thinking about a second physical birth.
[30:45] Maybe in another way he was saying well it's too late for me, I'm too old, I'm too set in my ways.
[30:59] But one is never too old, never too bad, and never too late when the offer of salvation is being made. And it's being made this evening to any here who have not yet come.
[31:17] And for those who are watching online, it's an offer of salvation from a gracious God, a loving God, a God who desires even more than myself, more than those of us gathered here, that men and women would come, would come and find peace, forgiveness, hope, union with with Christ.
[31:41] And so there's a little bit of clarification. Jesus gives Nicodemus a little bit of clarification. In the following verses 5 to 14, Jesus employs a physical illustration, a natural illustration, and finally a scriptural illustration to help Nicodemus understand.
[32:05] Let's quickly look at these illustrations. Jesus answered, very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the spirit.
[32:20] Flesh gives birth to spirit, but the spirit gives birth to spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the spirit gives birth to spirit.
[32:32] You see, when a person is born of the flesh, that's their natural birth, they inherit their parents' nature. When a person is born of the spirit, they inherit a new nature from God the Father in heaven.
[32:50] But the difficult phrase here is born of the water, and some commentators say that that refers to a natural physical birth, or a Christian baptism, or even to Jewish ceremonial washings.
[33:06] But the most likely meaning is that born of water refers to the word of God, the proclamation also of the word of God.
[33:16] Peter writes, for you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and enduring word of God.
[33:29] And Paul to the Ephesians, Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.
[33:43] You see, the word of God when preached, it does something, it's living, it's alive. And many people leave the church and they don't think they've been touched, but they're either falling in love with Jesus a little more after the word has been preached or they're growing colder towards Christ.
[34:04] The word does something in our lives, it's a living word, it fashions us, it's our security, it directs us, it comforts us.
[34:17] And without the spiritual washing of a soul, a cleansing accomplished only by the Holy Spirit through the word of God, no one can enter into God's kingdom, nor even God's family.
[34:31] It's like a double metaphor, Jesus has put the two together and in effect he's saying, if you want to enter the kingdom of God, you must be born of the word of God and of the spirit of God.
[34:45] And wherever the Bible, wherever the Bible has gone and the good news concerning Christ has been preached, whether among a savage tribe or whether among a sophisticated, educated, cultural people, the miracle of the new birth has taken place.
[35:05] Men and women have been transformed by God's power to the preaching of his word, not through human will and self-improvement.
[35:17] The second illustration, you should not be surprised at my saying, you must be born again. The wind blows wherever it pleases, you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.
[35:33] So it is with everyone born of the spirit of Jesus. It's quite, it appears to be obvious, Jesus tells Nicodemus that you can hear the wind, you can feel the wind, you can see the effects of the wind, but you don't know where it truly comes from.
[35:51] That remains a mystery. And once again, it's God's truth and God's spirit working freely and sovereignly in the heart of men and women.
[36:05] And salvation is the fruit, is the result. That's a new birth. You cannot see the work of the spirit in a person's heart, but you can see the effect of the spirit in that person's life and in that person's behaviour.
[36:23] What is it that causes a man or a woman to be different after they have been born again? They have the same body, the same temptations as before, but the difference is the new nature, the nature of God, the Holy Spirit abiding and reigning in their hearts.
[36:47] Go back to the creation of the world. Genesis 1 and 1 and 3. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
[37:06] And God said, let there be light. And there was light. First there was darkness, then God's spirit moved over all, then God spoke, and then there was light.
[37:20] Now look at the sinner. First he or she is in darkness, then the Holy Spirit moves and quickens, and then the Lord speaks, and then the sinner comes out of darkness into his most wonderful life.
[37:38] You know, when you see someone who generally leads a bad life, or even a good life, and there's no love and longing for Christ in their lives, no desire for fellowship with Christians, and then they turn up at church, and then they take their place at the prayer meeting, then they begin to speak of a burden for the lost, and their actions begin to show that they want to please the Lord.
[38:06] You know, you know a change has taken place. What's that change? the wind of the Spirit has been blowing in that soul.
[38:19] And the final illustration, because we're running out of time, how can this be, Nicodemus asked. You are Israel's teacher, Jesus said.
[38:31] Do you not understand these things? Now, Nicodemus is a renowned teacher of the scriptures, and yet he proved to be a very poor, learning.
[38:43] His question, how can this be? That proves his ignorance. So Jesus says this, I have spoken to you of earthly things, and you do not believe.
[38:57] How then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven, except the one who came from heaven, the Son of Man, just as Moses lifted the snake, and in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
[39:24] Jesus is reminding Nicodemus of his history. He reminds him of the time Israel sinned, and God sent serpents among them to bite them.
[39:37] God and as they did, many of the Israelites in the wilderness, they died. And when that tragic event took place, God commanded Moses to make a brass snake, or a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole.
[39:53] And Jesus reveals to Nicodemus that that bronze serpent on that pole was what we call a biblical type.
[40:04] And a type in scripture is a person or a thing in the Old Testament that foreshadows or points to a person or a thing in the New Testament.
[40:16] And Jesus is saying to Nicodemus, the bronze snake, that's a picture. picture. That's a picture of me. I will be made sin.
[40:28] I will be lifted up. And anyone who looks at me, anyone who looks to me will be saved and will be forgiven. Because that's why, that's why Jesus came.
[40:44] He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came, the Son of God, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. He came to die as a sacrifice for sin.
[40:59] God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
[41:11] He came to die that we through his death might live. And when Jesus died on that cross, he paid your death in full.
[41:24] And that Christ and a forgiven sinner should be made one and share heaven between them is the wonder. It's the wonder of salvation.
[41:36] What more could love do? You want to be born again? Look to him. Confess Christ as your Lord and as your Saviour.
[41:51] Heavenly Father, we thank you then for your word. And though the Lord had confused Nicodemus, perhaps it has confused us also. But we know our salvation is of the Lord.
[42:04] There is nothing we ever done, ever could do, ever shall do, that could earn this glorious forgiveness and peace and hope. hope and the sure of certain hope of eternal life.
[42:17] It's all of grace. It's all of your love. It's all of you. Oh, how we should bear before you. How we should seek our loving Heavenly Father to live according to your will, your word and your way.
[42:29] And so we thank you tonight. We thank you that from above you came down into our hearts, revealed to us our sin, sent us to the Saviour, sent us to Jesus.
[42:42] Bless us, we pray, go before us. And all this we ask is in his name and for his sake. Amen. Let's close now by singing from Psalm, let me find my piece of paper, Psalm 138.
[43:02] Psalm 138, we sing verses 1 to 5. Thee will I praise with all my heart. I will sing praise to thee. Before the gods and worship wills, award thy sanctuary.
[43:14] I will praise thy name, even for thy truth and kindness of thy love. For there thy word has magnified all thy great name above.
[43:27] Psalm 138, verses 1 to 5. worthy of glory, who run by in earth, do he Tin' favor, I pray with the Lord's eyes of joy.
[44:05] I praise thy name, even for thy truth, and kindness, O thy love.
[44:25] For thou thy word has hungered by, O thy great name above.
[44:43] Thou didst me answer in the day when I to thee day cry.
[45:01] And thou my faintest soul restent, His strength and inwardly.
[45:17] O kings upon the earth, Thou art shall give thee praise, O Lord.
[45:35] When I stay from thy march of the earth, I do unfaithful learn.
[45:53] Yea, yea, the righteous ways of God, With gladness they shall sing.
[46:10] For grace the glory of the Lord, Who doth forever reign.
[46:27] Amen. And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest and abide with us all, now and forevermore.
[46:40] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[46:52] Amen. – Amen. Amen.