[0:00] And if we could, this evening, for a short while, if we could turn back to that portion of scripture that we read, with the Lord's help, we'll look at Genesis chapter 22.
[0:16] Genesis chapter 22, and if we read again just from the beginning. What it says there, Now last Lord's Day we began a study called Mountaintop Experiences.
[1:08] Mountaintop Experiences, where we're going to consider some of the mountains that are mentioned in the Bible. Because as you know, mountains, they're repeatedly mentioned in the Bible, and many of the well-known Bible characters, we see when we look at them, they all had mountaintop experiences.
[1:27] They had mountaintop experiences, because it was on the tops of mountains that the Lord often revealed his character and demonstrated his power. And each of these mountaintop experiences, they're all recorded for us in the Bible, and they're all what you could call momentous and memorable occasions.
[1:45] They were occasions that were unforgettable and something that the Lord's people treasured. In fact, many of the mountaintop experiences mentioned in the Bible, they provide for us significant moments and markers in the story of redemption.
[2:01] And we considered the first of these mountaintop experiences last week, when we looked at Noah's Ark and how it came to rest on the top of Mount Ararat.
[2:11] And we thought about Mount Ararat, and we saw how Mount Ararat was the tallest mountain in Turkey. But it's also the tallest mountain mentioned in the Bible, where it peaks at over 5,000 meters high.
[2:26] And yet when the Lord flooded the world, as we were looking last week in Genesis 8, when the Lord flooded the world, Mount Ararat was submerged in water. And so when Noah had a mountaintop experience, it was one that he and his family would never forget.
[2:44] Because as we saw last week, they received redemption in the Ark, they found rest in the Ark, and they experienced restoration after the Ark. And of course, the gospel message that came from Mount Ararat was that we must come.
[2:59] We must come to this Christ because there's redemption, rest, and restoration to be found in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. But what's interesting is that when we come to consider another mountain and another mountaintop experience, we'll see that this too is a momentous marker in the story of redemption.
[3:21] Because as we come to consider Mount Moriah this evening, we see that it's a key location. A key location in the story of the Bible, the story of redemption.
[3:34] In fact, it could be argued that the entire story of God's redeeming grace, the entire story of the Bible from Genesis right through to Revelation, it comes to us from this mountain, from Mount Moriah.
[3:46] And I hope that we'll see that this evening. That the story of redemption is actually proclaimed to us very clearly from the top of Mount Moriah. And so I'd like us just to think about this mountain in relation, Mount Moriah under three headings.
[4:04] I want us to think about, first of all, the history of Mount Moriah, Then the happenings on Mount Moriah, and the hope from Mount Moriah. Three things. The history of Mount Moriah, the happenings on Mount Moriah, and the hope from Mount Moriah.
[4:21] So first of all, the history of Mount Moriah. We're reading again in verses 1 and 2. It says, But it'll also greatly add to our reverence of one of the most holy places in the world.
[5:05] Because Mount Moriah is located today within the modern city of Jerusalem. But when Jerusalem was originally built, the city was located on a nearby mountain.
[5:17] A mountain nearby to Mount Moriah called Mount Zion, which we're very familiar with. And we'll consider Mount Zion at another time. But Mount Zion and Mount Moriah, they were located very close to one another.
[5:32] In fact, they were actually part of the same mountain range. And they're often referred to in the Bible as the mountains of God. Because this mountain range, they're located right beside each other.
[5:46] And you know, well, you can't. There's actually many valleys that surround these mountains. There are actually three valleys that surround the mountains of Mount Moriah and Mount Zion. There's the Hinnom Valley, which runs in front of them.
[6:00] Then there's the Kidron Valley, which runs behind them. And then there's the Central Valley, which runs around them. But particularly Mount Zion and Mount Moriah, they're located between the Central Valley and the Kidron Valley.
[6:13] And out of these two mountains, Zion and Moriah, it's Moriah that stands the tallest. Moriah is the tallest peak, you could say. It's 768 metres high.
[6:25] And then just a wee bit down the mountain, towards the Kidron Valley, it was Mount Zion, which was 765 metres tall.
[6:35] Only three metres between them. But Moriah was the tallest peak. And it was distinguished by this large, flat, protruding rock that came out of the top of Mount Moriah.
[6:47] And of course, in comparison to Mount Ararat, which was 5,000 metres high, Mount Moriah and Mount Zion, they were very small.
[6:59] But they were very significant. And it's said that their significance, the significance especially of Mount Moriah, it begins at the very beginning of time.
[7:10] Jewish tradition states that the Garden of Eden was located on the top of Mount Moriah. The Garden of Eden was said to be described as a garden city, created by God, known as paradise.
[7:26] And the word paradise, it refers to a walled garden, just like a city. Cities in the ancient world, they all had walls around them. So it was a walled garden city.
[7:36] That's where the Garden of Eden was, located on the top of Mount Moriah. And it's said that the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were both located at the centre of Mount Moriah.
[7:49] But as you know, Adam and Eve, they didn't remain in this walled garden city of paradise. Because Genesis 3, they disobeyed the Lord by eating from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
[8:01] And the result was that they were driven out of the garden, away from the presence of the Lord. And when sin entered into the world, Adam and Eve, they were exiled out of the Garden of Eden, through the gate in the east, down into the Kidron Valley, and away from Mount Moriah.
[8:20] And you know, it's interesting that the Kidron Valley, when you look at it throughout the Bible, it's often mentioned in the Bible, in relation to sin and judgment. And that's where Adam and Eve were sent.
[8:32] Out of the gate in the east, down Mount Moriah, towards the Kidron Valley, to a place of sin and judgment. And when sin entered into the heart of Adam and Eve, causing them to fall from that perfect estate wherein they were created, you remember in Genesis 3, the cherubim were placed at the gate in the east with a flaming sword.
[8:52] In order to prevent access back into the Garden of Eden. There was the gate and the access was closed off to the tree of life.
[9:03] Because if Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree of life, they would have remained in their sinful condition forever. But you know, the question which actually arises out of the fall, when Adam and Eve are driven out, out of Moriah, the question is, well, how can we now have a relationship with God?
[9:21] How can we walk with God in the Garden like Adam and Eve did? How can sinful mankind, how can sinful mankind now be restored and renewed and experience redemption and reconciliation with a holy God?
[9:37] And you remember that the message which came from the Garden of Eden, on the top of Moriah, the message which came was, we can only come by the sacrifice of a promised seed.
[9:50] We can only come to paradise through the sacrifice of a promised seed. And you know, that's the story of the Bible, isn't it? The sacrifice of a promised seed.
[10:03] Because the promise which came from God in the Garden of Eden, on Mount Moriah, is that the promised seed of the woman will come and crush the head of the serpent.
[10:15] And it's only then that we're able to see that we can come to God, we're only able to come to God by the sacrifice of the promised seed. And you know, that's what we're seeing played out for us here in Genesis 22.
[10:30] The seed of the woman promised in Genesis 3. The seed of the woman is revealed here to us in the family of Abraham. That's what we're seeing here in Genesis 22.
[10:42] The seed of the woman is revealed to us in the family of Abraham. Because it was Abraham, you know, as he received the covenant promise in Genesis chapter 12, where through your seed, he was told, Abraham was told, through your seed, all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
[11:01] But as we know, Abraham had to wait 25 years for this promise until the birth of Isaac. Because Isaac was the seed through whom blessing to all the nations would come.
[11:12] But as we said, the message from the Garden of Eden on the top of Mount Moriah, was that we can only come by the sacrifice of a promised seed. We can only come by the sacrifice of the promised seed.
[11:24] And in many ways, that's what we're witnessing here in Genesis 22. We're witnessing the sacrifice of the promised seed. Where Abraham is now on the top of Mount Moriah.
[11:35] And he's offering up his only son as a burnt offering to the Lord. Because through the sacrifice of the promised seed, we're seeing here foreshadowed. That sinful mankind can be restored, renewed, experience redemption, and reconciliation with a holy God.
[11:54] But of course, as we said, Genesis 22, it's all a foreshadowing of what is to take place in the future. And you know, when you consider the history of Mount Moriah, and when you move through all the generations, and you read through the Bible and see how important this mountain is, you realize just how memorable and momentous all these occasions are.
[12:20] You know, Jewish tradition not only said that Mount Moriah was the location of the Garden of Eden, it also says that it was the location of Jacob's dream in Genesis 28.
[12:31] When Jacob, you remember, he sees the ladder going to heaven, and angels descending and ascending. And it's there when Jacob is dreaming on the top of Mount Moriah, that the Lord affirms again his covenant promise, the same promise that he gave to Abraham, that there would be blessing through the sacrifice of a promised seed.
[12:53] But you know, the history of Mount Moriah becomes more poignant when we reach the generation of King David. You remember in 2 Samuel 6, David captures the Ark of the Covenant, he takes it back from the Philistines, and he takes the Ark to Jerusalem, which at that point was a stronghold of the Jebusites, located very close to Mount Moriah on Mount Zion.
[13:20] And David, he overthrows the Jebusites, he captures Jerusalem, which is around 1000 BC, he claims Jerusalem as his own, he declares Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel.
[13:33] Then in 2 Samuel 7, the Lord affirms his covenant promise, the promise he gave to Abraham, the promise he gave to Adam and Eve, the same promise that they would be blessing through the sacrifice of the promised seed.
[13:47] And in the meantime, the Lord grants David the request to build him a permanent structure for the Ark of the Covenant. And although David is not allowed to build the temple himself, you know that, he wasn't able to build the temple because he was a man of war.
[14:03] But David makes all these preparations for his son, Solomon, to build the temple of the Lord. And one such preparation was to purchase the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, which was the area just to the north of Jerusalem, the mountain called Moriah.
[14:24] Ornan the Jebusite, he owned the land around Moriah. He owned that flat piece of rock that was the peak of Mount Moriah. That was his threshing floor.
[14:35] But in 1 Chronicles 21, we're told that Ornan the Jebusite, he was just willing to give it to David. He wanted to give it to David for nothing. But David insisted.
[14:46] He insisted that he would pay the full price because it's for the temple of the Lord. And as you see the history unfolding, it's fascinating to see it all unfolding. David purchases Mount Moriah, and then Solomon takes over.
[15:02] King Solomon then makes the city of Jerusalem a larger city. The city that's on Mount Zion, he makes it even bigger to cover the area of Mount Moriah.
[15:14] And he incorporates the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And as Mount Moriah was higher than Mount Zion, this would be far easier if I had a picture for you, but because Mount Moriah was higher than Mount Zion, it was a perfect location for the temple to be built.
[15:32] So after seven years of construction, with not even a sound of an instrument or a tool being heard when the temple was being built, the temple was completed on the top of Mount Moriah, 950 BC.
[15:49] And so when the Ark of the Covenant is brought in, this symbol of God's holy presence, it's brought into the temple, placed in the holy of holies. The temple is dedicated to the Lord.
[16:00] The Lord's glory fills the temple. And it's said that the holy of holies in the temple, this holy place where no man is to enter, where the Ark of the Covenant sat, was directly on top of Mount Moriah, where Abraham offered up Isaac.
[16:18] And again, it's another reminder. The temple was another reminder. Another reminder that the message from the Garden of Eden was, and from the top of Mount Moriah, was that we can only come by the sacrifice of the promised seed.
[16:34] We can only come by the sacrifice of a promised seed. And you know, it was as we were studying the tabernacle, we even saw that the tabernacle and the temple, they were both modelled on the Garden of Eden.
[16:49] Do you remember that? Where the Garden of Eden was, you could say, the first temple. It was a prototype of the temple with a gate in the east and the cherubim all guarding the way to the holy of holies, to the immediate presence of God.
[17:05] But Solomon's temple, it stood on the top of Mount Moriah for over 400 years until it was destroyed. Destroyed, along with the city of Jerusalem that Solomon had made so beautiful, it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC.
[17:22] And subsequently, the city of Jerusalem was then rebuilt after the children of Israel had returned from 70 years in exile. They returned to Mount Moriah, they returned to rebuild the temple on the top of Mount Moriah, and it was completed in 561 BC.
[17:38] But then it was destroyed again. The second temple was destroyed in AD 70 by the Romans. Sadly, today, Mount Moriah is still a holy site.
[17:51] But it's not for Jewish or Christian worship. It's a holy site for Muslim worship. It's on the temple mount on this flat rock on the top of Mount Moriah where Abraham offered up Isaac, where the temple was built, where the Ark of the Covenant rested for centuries.
[18:11] It's there that there now stands the dome of the rock. And I'm sure you've seen the pictures of it, this well-known structure with a gold-plated roof.
[18:22] It's a symbol of Muslim worship. And Muslims believe that the location, that's the location, Mount Moriah, that's the location where the Prophet Muhammad's night journey to heaven began.
[18:33] they say that it began on the top of Mount Moriah. And so, that's a history of Moriah. I know it's probably not helpful without pictures, but it's a brief history of what happened on Mount Moriah.
[18:46] It emphasizes to us that this mountain, it's a key location in the story of redemption. But I not only want us to think about the history of Mount Moriah, I want us to think about, secondly, the happenings on Mount Moriah.
[19:02] Because it's what happened on Mount Moriah that makes this mountain a significant marker in the story of redemption. So the history of Mount Moriah and secondly, the happenings on Mount Moriah.
[19:15] The happenings on Mount Moriah. We'll read again in verse 2. It says, he said, take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.
[19:32] So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac and he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
[19:47] Now we said earlier that Jewish tradition claims that the location of the Garden of Eden was on the top of Mount Moriah and that when Adam and Eve sinned, when sin entered and Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord, they were driven out of the Garden of Eden away from the presence of the Lord.
[20:04] They were exiled out of this garden city. They were exiled out through the gate in the east down Mount Moriah towards the Kidron Valley. Therefore, in order for sinful mankind, in order for us to experience redemption, restoration, renewal, and reconciliation with God, in a symbolic sense, we have to retrace the steps of Adam and Eve.
[20:30] And the promise which came from the Garden of Eden on Mount Moriah was that the promised seed of the woman would come and crush the head of the serpent, which meant that we can only come to God by the sacrifice of a promised seed.
[20:44] We can only come to God by the sacrifice of a promised seed. And so, even though there was rejection on Moriah with Adam and Eve, we're told that there was revelation on Moriah with Abraham and Isaac.
[21:00] Because in this passage, in Genesis 22, we're given this foreshadowing of the greatest happening on Mount Moriah. It's a foreshadowing of what is to come.
[21:12] Because when we read this passage, it's always pointing forward. It's always straining forward to the ultimate sacrifice of the promised seed. That is Jesus Christ himself. Because we see here the father, the father Abraham, obediently offering up his only begotten son as a sacrifice.
[21:32] The Lord said to Abraham, take now your son, your only son, whom you love, and offer him up as a whole burnt offering. Now Abraham, he did have another son.
[21:47] He was called Ishmael. But Ishmael wasn't the son of promise. He wasn't the promised seed. In fact, Ishmael, very interesting, Ishmael is the seed of the Muslims and a forefather of the prophet Muhammad.
[22:03] But he wasn't the promised seed. Because the message from Eden on Mount Moriah was that we can only come by the sacrifice of the promised seed.
[22:14] We can only retrace the steps of Adam and Eve by the sacrifice of a promised seed. And that was Isaac. But you know what I love about this passage is that as Abraham and Isaac climb Mount Moriah together, Isaac, he's bearing his own cross because he's carrying the wood for the burnt offering.
[22:36] And for the first time, we actually hear Isaac's voice recorded in the Bible. This is the first time Isaac speaks. And he asks this poignant question, Father, where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
[22:53] My friend, Isaac's first words on the pages of Scripture were, Father, where is the lamb for a burnt offering? You know, what a question. What a moment to ask such a question. Father, where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
[23:08] And Abraham responds in verse 8 with the loving statement, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
[23:18] My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. By faith, Abraham affirmed to Isaac that there will be a future provision.
[23:30] There will be a lamb for a burnt offering. But the provision of that burnt offering, the provision of that lamb, Isaac, Abraham says, it will be God himself.
[23:43] God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. By faith, Abraham affirms to Isaac on the top of Mount Moriah that sinful mankind will only experience redemption, reconciliation, restoration, and renewal.
[24:00] and they will only experience it by the sacrifice of a promised seed. And that promised seed, that lamb for a burnt offering, he says, will be God himself.
[24:12] God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. But of course, the offering up of Isaac on the top of Mount Moriah was only a precursor of what would later take place at Solomon's temple in the years to come.
[24:32] As you know, when the temple was built in Jerusalem, the Ark of the Covenant which symbolized God's presence among his people, it sat in the Holy of Holies on the top of Mount Moriah where Abraham offered up Isaac.
[24:45] Isaac. And it was holy ground. But you know, in Solomon's day, the ground was so holy that it was now closed off to the public.
[24:56] It was closed off by this thick curtain. And the warning was, the warning from the thick curtain inside the Holy of Holies was that if you entered through the veil, you would die.
[25:08] No one was allowed to enter into the Holy of Holies and stand upon the top of Mount Moriah where Abraham stood nobody was allowed in except the high priest once a year. On the day of atonement, ten days after the Jewish New Year, the high priest would enter within the veil with the blood of a sacrifice seeking atonement on behalf of all the people.
[25:31] And as you know, for centuries, the day of atonement was the holiest day for an Israelite. For centuries, there were all these happenings on Mount Moriah until the day that the curtain on the top of Mount Moriah was finally torn from top to bottom.
[25:47] And as you know, that day took place during the feast of Passover when Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross outside the city walls of Jerusalem.
[25:59] Jesus wasn't crucified on the top of Mount Moriah because that's where the temple was, but he wasn't far from it. And as we know from the Gospels, when God the Father delivered up his only begotten Son as a sacrifice for our sin, Jesus, he achieved atonement, he accomplished redemption, restoration, renewal, and reconciliation with God.
[26:23] Because when Jesus, as we're told in the Gospels, when he cried out with a loud voice, when he yielded up his spirit, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom.
[26:33] The veil that sat on the top of Mount Moriah was torn in two from top to bottom. And for centuries, this veil which had proclaimed to sinners, if you come in, you will die.
[26:49] This veil now proclaimed through the substitutionary and sacrificial death of Jesus, the veil proclaims, if you do not come in, you will die.
[27:00] If you do not come in, you will die. You know, my friend, access into the presence of a holy God is now wide open. The way to paradise in Eden is possible because through the death of the last Adam, we're able to retrace the steps of the first Adam.
[27:22] Because the promise which came from the Garden of Eden on the top of Mount Moriah was that the seed of the woman will come and crush the head of the serpent, which meant that we can only come by the sacrifice of a promised seed.
[27:36] We can only come by the sacrifice of a promised seed. And that promised seed, as you know, was revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. You know, Jesus says to us in the gospel, I have come.
[27:51] You know, this is the wonder of it. I was reading one commentator and he was talking about Mount Moriah and how God came in the person of Jesus. What does Jesus do? He descends Mount Moriah.
[28:02] He leaves the Garden of Eden in that spiritual sense and descends to where we are in the place of sin and judgment in the Kidron Valley. He descends to us in order to reveal to us himself and tell us, I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.
[28:21] And so, my friend, you know, we must come to this Jesus, this Jesus who has been presented to us throughout every generation of history, this Jesus who was promised in the Garden of Eden, promised to Abraham on the top of Mount Moriah, promised to David, promised to Solomon, promised to all the kings, this Jesus who was promised and who is still promised to us, were to come to him seeking salvation because we can only come by the sacrifice of a promised seed.
[28:52] We can only come by the sacrifice of a promised seed. And you know, that's the message from Mount Moriah. Access has been achieved.
[29:03] The way is open. Paradise is promised. Therefore, we need to come to this promised Christ and we're to come to him in all our sin, all our weaknesses and he'll give to us rest for our souls.
[29:19] But you know, as we consider this, what I find fascinating, I don't know about you, but I find it fascinating. We not only see the history of Mount Moriah and the happenings on Mount Moriah, we see lastly the hope, the hope of Mount Moriah.
[29:33] The hope of Mount Moriah. We'll just read in verse 14. It says there, so Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide.
[29:47] As it is said to this day, on the mount of the Lord it shall be provided. when God spared Isaac, Abraham named the top of Mount Moriah, he called it Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide.
[30:04] Abraham knew that God will provide himself as a lamb for a burnt offering. And as you know, he did. Jehovah Jireh provided himself.
[30:17] He provided himself as a lamb in the portion of Jesus Christ. He is the lamb of God, as John the Baptist said, who takes away the sin of the world.
[30:30] But as we said earlier, it's sad that today, that on Mount Moriah, it's not a holy site for Christian worship or Jewish worship, but Muslim worship.
[30:42] On the top of Mount Moriah, where Eden was situated, or said to be situated, where Abraham offered up Isaac, where the Ark of the Covenant rested, where the temple was built, and stood there for centuries, there now stands this dome, the dome of the rock, and it's a symbol of worship to Allah.
[31:02] In fact, Mount Moriah is now one of the most contested sites in the world between the Jews and the Muslims, because the Jews believe that before the Messiah will come, the temple will be rebuilt, right where the dome of the rock is built.
[31:19] They believe that this dome will come down, the Jews believe that the dome will be destroyed, and the temple will be rebuilt before the Messiah comes for the first time. But at present, Jews aren't even allowed to pray anywhere near the dome of the rock.
[31:36] They're not allowed on Mount Moriah to pray to their God. They're forbidden. You're only allowed to pray to Allah on the top of Mount Moriah. You know, it's really sad when you see the history of this holy place and now it's overtaken by Muslims.
[31:54] But what I find interesting is that, and what Jews and Muslims misunderstand, is that the hope of Mount Moriah is not to be found on Mount Moriah.
[32:06] The hope of Mount Moriah is not to be found on Mount Moriah because the hope of Mount Moriah is no longer in a place. It's in a portion. You know, the gospel doesn't come to us from a place.
[32:20] The gospel comes to us in a portion because Jesus Christ, as we're told, is the gospel. And as we were discovering in our study of the book of Acts in the morning, when the Holy Spirit came upon the church, the gospel moved out.
[32:36] And where did it move out from? Moriah. It moved out from Mount Moriah, from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the earth.
[32:48] And the gospel has spread throughout the world into Europe, across the English Channel, into Britain, through England, up through Scotland, to our shores, across the Minch, into Lewis, into our villages, and our homes, and our families, and to us.
[33:07] The gospel has spread all the way from Mount Moriah to us. And tonight the hope of Mount Moriah is that the gospel is not a place. The gospel is a Persian.
[33:20] Therefore, you don't need to go to a place in order to be saved. You don't need to make a pilgrimage all the way to Mount Moriah, to the dome of the rock if you're a Muslim, or to the temple mount if, or to the wailing wall if you're a Jew.
[33:34] You don't need to go to a place in order to be saved. you just need to come to the Persian. You don't need to go to a place in order to be saved. You just need to come to a Persian.
[33:47] A Persian, and this is what the Bible reminds us, a Persian who knows everything about you. A Persian who, despite your sin, loves you deeply.
[33:58] A Persian who doesn't deal with you as you deserve. A Persian who humbled himself and was obedient to his father's will to the point of death, even the death upon a cross.
[34:10] And my friend, he's a Persian who lived the life that you should have lived. And he's a Persian who died the death you deserve to die. He's the Persian of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[34:25] And that's who you need to come to tonight. That's the message from Mount Moriah. And you know, having considered briefly the history of Mount Moriah, the happenings of Mount Moriah, and even the hope of Mount Moriah, the message which comes to us tonight from Mount Moriah, is that you don't need to go to a place.
[34:46] You just need to come to a Persian. And you know, as someone who's unconverted tonight, this is the Persian you need to come to. You need to come to this Jesus.
[34:58] You need to come to Jesus tonight, believing in your heart, and confessing with your mouth, that he is Lord over your life. And you know, even as Christians, we need to keep coming to this Persian.
[35:13] Because as Christians, we realise there's no one else to go to. There's no one else to seek. There's no one else to trust in, but this Jesus. My friend, Mount Moriah, the message from Mount Moriah, is that you don't need to go to a place.
[35:29] you just need to come to a Persian. So let's all make sure that we come to this Persian, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, and know him, and love him, and follow him, all the days of our life.
[35:44] May the Lord bless these few thoughts to us. Let us pray. O Lord, our gracious God, we give thanks to thee that history is known to us as his story.
[35:59] And Lord, we give thanks for the story of the gospel, that it began in Genesis, and that even though it began with a perfect creation and the fall of man, and Lord, we pray that we would see in Jesus, the last Adam, the one who came to bring reconciliation and restoration and renewal and redemption.
[36:21] And Lord, help us to come not to a place, but to this person, a person who knows us, a person who loves us, a person who calls us, and a person who is willing to receive us.
[36:35] O Lord, help us, we pray, to walk with Jesus day by day, because the promise is that if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
[36:49] Go before us then, we pray. Bless us in the week that lies ahead. Help us, Lord, to walk with this person who is Jesus, every day of our lives, that whatever is before us, that we would know he is beside us.
[37:02] Keep us in, we ask, for we ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. Amen. Well, we're going to bring our time to a conclusion, and I wonder if I can say to the presenter, we'll sing in Psalm 23.
[37:21] I was thinking, just preaching there, about we need to come to a person. And the person in Psalm 23 is the Lord, the Lord who is our shepherd.
[37:36] And as we know, well, this is a well-known psalm, and it's known to the children. And it's lovely to see the children here with us every Sunday evening. And they know this psalm, they've been learning it, haven't you?
[37:49] Learning it in Sunday school. And what better person to sing about than the Lord who is our shepherd? So if that's okay with the presenter, we're going to sing Psalm 23.
[38:01] We're going to sing the whole psalm, because we all need to know this person, in life and in death. The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want, he makes me down to lie, in pastures green he leadeth me, the quiet waters by.
[38:17] And we'll sing on to the end of the psalm, goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow me, and in God's house forevermore my dwelling place shall be.
[38:28] We'll sing the whole psalm to God's praise. Lord, my shepherd, I'll not want, he makes me down to lie, in pastures green he green he leadeth me, the quiet water fight.
[39:11] My soul he doth restore more again, and be to war doth me within the paths of righteousness in for his own name's sake.
[39:54] Yea, though I walk in death's dark will, yet will I fear none ill, for thou art with me on thy road, and staff me comfort still.
[40:34] my table thou hast furnished in presence of my foes, my hand thou dost with oil anoint, and my cup overflows, goodness and mercy of my life shall surely follow me and in
[41:41] God's house forevermore my dwelling place shall be.
[41:59] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, both now and forevermore. Amen.