[0:00] Well, if we could, this evening we're going to study the Pilgrim's Progress. But before we think about the Pilgrim's Progress, I just want to read one verse from Galatians 2.
[0:11] Galatians 2 and verse 20, where we are given Paul's confession of the Christian. Where Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
[0:24] And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
[0:35] As you know, we're continuing our study of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. And this evening we've come to a pivotal moment in Christian's experience because, well, we find Christian, we find him at the cross.
[0:49] And we find Christian at the cross because that's where every lost and graceless sinner must come if they're going to receive pardon and the promise of salvation.
[1:01] But, you know, in our journey with Christian, as we've walked with him along the King's Highway, you know, I feel that we've already come a long way. Because a lot has changed in Christian's experience and understanding.
[1:13] A lot has changed since that time we saw Christian standing in the city of destruction as a graceless sinner. You remember that Christian, he was there clothed in filthy rags with a book in his hand and a burden upon his back.
[1:30] And he had come to the end of himself and he was crying, what must I do to be saved? What must I do to be saved? And as a lost and graceless sinner, he needed direction.
[1:41] He needed discipleship, which he found when he met evangelist. And like a good pastor and preacher evangelist, he pointed graceless in the right direction.
[1:53] And it was then that graceless, he took that first step of faith. He fled from the city of destruction and he confessed that in Christ and in Christ alone is life, life, eternal life.
[2:07] And it was from that point onwards that Bunyan refers to his pilgrim as Christian. Of course, Christian, he didn't know that he was a Christian by that point.
[2:18] But he was a Christian. And as we've walked with Christian along the King's Highway, you'll remember that we've encountered distractions. We met obstinate and pliable and Mr. Worley Wiseman and we almost met Mr. Legality.
[2:34] We've also encountered disappointments in the Slough of Despond. We were heading towards the town of carnal policy and also the village of morality.
[2:46] But as we've walked with Christian, we've also encountered disciples. Disciples who gave direction. There was evangelist and help and goodwill and the interpreter.
[2:59] And that's where we were last Lord's Day. We were with Christian in the interpreter's house. And as we said, the interpreter's house is an image and an illustration of what every Christian experiences when the Holy Spirit is working in their life.
[3:15] Because it was in the interpreter's house that Christian, you'll remember, he was brought into seven different rooms. And he was shown what it's like when the interpreter, when the Holy Spirit is at work in your heart and life.
[3:31] And it was there in the interpreter's house that Christian learned what it means to count the cost of following Jesus. And so as we've walked with Christian along the journey, just this short distance so far, you know, we've fled from the city of destruction.
[3:49] We've been delivered from the Slough of Despond. We've passed through the Wicked Gate. We've also explored the interpreter's house. But now we're at the cross.
[4:01] We're at the cross. And this evening, I just want us to stand with Christian for a little while. And I want us to stand at the cross.
[4:11] Because, you know, Bunyan, he tells us that it was as Christian stood looking and weeping at the cross, three shining ones came to him.
[4:23] And they welcomed him with words of peace. And we're told that these three shining ones, they each had a promise for Christian. They had a promise for Christian at the cross.
[4:35] The first said to him, your sins are forgiven. The second shining ones stripped Christian of his rags and clothed him with a change of garments. And then the third, he set a mark upon his forehead and he handed him a scroll with a seal.
[4:54] And, you know, I want us to think about these promises because it was at the cross that Christian received atonement. It was at the cross that Christian received attire.
[5:06] And it was at the cross that Christian received assurance. And there are headings this evening. It was at the cross that Christian received atonement.
[5:17] Christian received attire. And Christian received assurance. So first of all, it was at the cross that Christian received atonement.
[5:27] Christian received atonement. In the opening words of chapter 3, Bunyan writes, he says, You know, before Christian even arrived at the cross, he encountered what seemed to be this narrow pathway.
[6:10] It was a narrow pathway that was fenced by high walls on either side. And we're told that these walls were called salvation. And according to Bunyan's scripture reference, the narrow pathway, this narrow pathway leading uphill towards the cross, it was called the way of holiness.
[6:31] It's based upon the words in Isaiah 35, where we're told that a highway, it shall be a highway and it shall be called the way of holiness. A highway shall be there and it shall be called the way of holiness.
[6:45] And so as Bunyan at last brings Christian to the cross, he shows us that the way to the cross is a highway. It has this incline. But more than that, it's a highway, we're told, of holiness.
[7:00] It's a highway that's different and distinct from every other way because this is the only way. And as the walls fenced on either side of the highway of holiness suggest, it's the only way of salvation.
[7:17] And you know, what Bunyan is actually asserting and affirming to us is that there's no other way of salvation. There's no other path to tread. There's no other route to follow.
[7:28] Because the cross of Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved. Because this crucified Christ, he is the way, he's the truth and he is the life.
[7:41] As someone once said, without the way, there is no going. Without the truth, there is no knowing. And without the life, there is no living. And that's who Jesus is. He is the way, the truth and the life.
[7:53] My friend, the cross of Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. But what Christian discovered and what every Christian discovers when they take the narrow highway of holiness towards the cross, what they discover is that the walls of salvation are so high and so narrow that you have to walk this way on your own.
[8:19] You know, you can't take someone with you. You have to come to the cross on your own. You can't take your husband with you. You can't take your wife with you. You can't take your children with you.
[8:31] You can't take a Christian friend, neighbour or work colleague with you. You can't take an elder or a minister with you. You have to do it on your own. You have to come to the way of salvation and ascend the highway of holiness towards the cross of Jesus Christ.
[8:48] And you have to do it on your own. Even though you may be burdened by your sin and your shame, my friend, you must run. You must run to redemption.
[9:00] You must come to the cross of Calvary, saying with the hymn writer, Nothing in my hands I bring, but simply to thy cross I cling.
[9:11] And you know Bunyan, he writes, So I saw in my dream that just as Christian came up to the cross, His burden loosed from off his shoulders and fell from off his back and began to tumble and so continued to do until it came to the mouth of a tomb where it fell in.
[9:32] And I saw it no more. The hymn writer said, At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away, it was there by faith that I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day.
[9:56] That was Christian's experience. Because that is the Christian's experience. That when you come by the way of salvation to the cross of Jesus Christ, and when you come openly confessing your load of sin and your love for the Saviour, I assure you, my friend, you will find rest and relief.
[10:16] You will find rest and relief. Because there will no longer be this strain and struggle going on in your heart and life. Because when you come to Calvary confessing your hope and confidence in no other except Jesus Christ and Him crucified, it's then and only then that you will be wholeheartedly echoing Paul's confession of the Christian here in Galatians 2 verse 20.
[10:44] My friend, when you come to Calvary, you will find rest and relief and redemption and reconciliation and restoration.
[11:12] Do you know that's why Horatius Bono, wrote those wonderful words?
[11:44] I heard the voice of Jesus say, Come unto me and rest. Lay down, thou weary one, lay down thy head upon my breast. And in response he says, I came to Jesus.
[11:58] How? As I was. Weary and worn and sad. And I found in Him our resting place. And He has made me glad.
[12:08] And that was Christian's experience. He found rest and relief and redemption and reconciliation and restoration. He found it all when his burden rolled away at the cross.
[12:19] That burden which weighed Christian down when he had read the book in his hand. He had carried that burden. He had carried it from the city of destruction.
[12:30] He had carried it through the slough of Despond. He had carried it past the wicked gate. He had taken it around the interpreter's house. And he had taken it all the way to the cross.
[12:41] But that burden rolled away when he reached the cross. And you know, as we read, it was at the cross that Christian's burden had loosed from off his back. And it fell.
[12:53] It fell and began to tumble and kept on tumbling when it came right to the mouth of the tomb where it fell in. And Bunyan says, And I saw it no more.
[13:07] And you know, I love that Bunyan writes, I saw it no more. He doesn't say that Christian saw it no more, which was true. But he says, I saw it no more.
[13:19] You know, Bunyan, he's bringing us into the story. And he's reminding us that Christian's experience is every Christian's experience. Because through the cross and the empty tomb, God's covenant promise is realized.
[13:37] Do you remember the covenant promise in Jeremiah 31? The Lord says to everyone who comes to the cross, I will forgive their iniquity. And I will remember their sin no more.
[13:49] The burden rolled away, never to be seen again. Because the covenant promise is, I will forgive their iniquity. And I will remember their sin no more.
[14:01] My friend, it was through God's covenant promise that Christian received atonement. That's why the promise from the first shining one was, your sins are forgiven.
[14:14] Your sins are forgiven. You remember that they were the words that Jesus spoke to the paralytic after he had been lowered through the roof to the feet of Jesus.
[14:24] Jesus, he looked at this paralytic, and he said to him, son, your sins are forgiven. And you know, that's the promise everyone receives who comes by the way of salvation to the cross of Jesus Christ.
[14:40] Because it's at the cross of Jesus Christ that your sin and shame is cleansed and covered in the blood of Jesus Christ. Because, you know, my friend, our Bible assures us that it's the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin.
[14:56] And that without the shedding of blood, without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sin. Do you know, you read the Old Testament book of Leviticus, and it's a book full of service and slaughter and sacrifice.
[15:10] But it's that Old Testament book of Leviticus which highlights and heralds to us so clearly the name of Jesus. Because it says to us that it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.
[15:24] It is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. My friend, when you come by the way of salvation to the cross of Jesus Christ, you experience rest and relief and redemption and reconciliation and restoration.
[15:40] And you receive it all not because of corruptible things such as silver and gold, but because of the precious blood of Christ, who was like a lamb without blemish and without spot.
[15:55] You know, I don't know about you, but when I stand with Christian in my mind and consider the cross, I have all these well-known hymns going on in my mind, where you consider the cross and that Christian received atonement through the blood of Jesus Christ.
[16:13] You know, the question that comes to my mind is what the hymn writer asked. The question that I want to ask you, my unconverted friend, have you been to Jesus for his cleansing power?
[16:26] Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you fully trusting in his grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you washed in the blood, in the soul, cleansing blood of the lamb?
[16:38] Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Have you come to the cross? Have you come to the cross?
[16:51] Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Well, this brings us secondly to consider that it was at the cross that Christian received attire.
[17:03] It was at the cross that Christian received atonement, and it was also at the cross that Christian received attire. Christian received attire.
[17:14] Bunyan writes, Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and said with a merry heart, He hath given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his death. Then he stood still a while to look and wonder, for it was very surprising to him that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden.
[17:33] He looked there, for I looked again, even till the springs that were on his head sent the water down his cheeks. And you know, with this imagery and illustration, Bunyan explains to us that when Christian came by the way of salvation to the cross of Jesus Christ, he found rest and relief and redemption and reconciliation and restoration, and he found it all when his burden rolled away.
[17:59] And it was with that newfound Christian joy and gladness that Christian said, He hath given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his death.
[18:11] He hath given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his death. He's saying that an exchange had taken place. He hath given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his death.
[18:26] And this exchange, it's further illustrated when Christian encounters the second shining one. Because we're told that the second shining one, he stripped Christian of his rags and then clothed him with a change of garments.
[18:40] And so it was at the cross that Christian received attire, because an exchange took place. And you know, what Bunyan is illustrating to us is actually the central truth of the cross.
[18:54] It's Calvary's great transaction. It's the doctrine of justification by faith alone. I know, this is something that Bunyan would have been very familiar with, not only because Martin Luther and the Reformation had been sweeping across Europe, but also because of the Westminster Assembly.
[19:15] They'd met only a few decades earlier to compile and consolidate the Westminster Confession and the Catechisms. And so Bunyan knew what the cross meant for the Christian.
[19:28] Bunyan knew that our sins are forgiven, not by our prayers or our practices or by penance. No, Bunyan knew that our sins are forgiven by penal substitution, where Christ took the penalty for our sin upon himself, and that God the Father punished our sins in Jesus so that we would be freed from the penalty and the punishment of our sins.
[19:56] My friend, he was our sinless substitute. Jesus was our sinless scapegoat. Jesus was our sinless sacrifice. He took the penalty for our sin.
[20:07] And no matter how big or how bad or how burdensome our sin and shame is, it was all dealt with by Jesus on the cross.
[20:18] He bore our sin and shame in his own body on the tree that we might die to sin and live unto righteousness. He took the covenant curse of God upon himself that we might receive the covenant blessing of God.
[20:35] Paul tells us that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich.
[20:46] For our sakes, says Paul, the Father made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, all so that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
[21:02] My friend, this is the central truth of the cross. This is the great exchange. This is Calvary's great transaction, where the worst about me was laid upon him and the best about him was laid upon me.
[21:17] My disobedience was reckoned to him. His perfect obedience was reckoned to me. My sin and shame transferred to Christ. His salvation and security was transferred to me.
[21:30] My ruin was credited to him. His riches credited to me. My rags of righteousness were removed and given over and imputed to him.
[21:43] But his robe of righteousness was given over and imputed to me. You know, my friend, you look at Galatians 2 verse 20 and it's no wonder Paul could make the confession of the Christian.
[21:56] I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ now lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
[22:15] My friend, Paul made the confession of a Christian because he came to discover what every Christian discovers at the cross. And what do we discover at the cross?
[22:27] Well, how does our catechism put it? Justification is an act of God's free grace wherein he pardons all our sins at the cross.
[22:37] He accepts us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to him and received by faith alone. My friend, this is the central truth of the cross.
[22:51] This is Calvary's great transaction. He hath given me rest for his sorrow and life by his death. And you know, there's no better passage in all of Scripture that describes the great transaction and the great exchange that took place at Calvary.
[23:10] There's no better passage than the prophetic words of Isaiah 53 where we're told that the one who first loved us. He gave himself for us.
[23:24] He was despised and rejected by men. He was a man of sorrows. He was acquainted with grief. He bore our griefs. He carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.
[23:36] He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes, we are healed.
[23:48] It's Calvary's great transaction. And you know, it was when he was reflecting upon Isaiah 53 that the hymn writer, he wrote those beautiful words where he said, Man of sorrows, what a name.
[24:03] For the Son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah, what a saviour. Bearing shame and scoffing rude. In my place, condemned he stood.
[24:16] Sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah, what a saviour. Guilty, vile and helpless we. Spotless Lamb of God was he. Full redemption can it be.
[24:29] Hallelujah, what a saviour. Lifted up was he to die. It is finished was his cry. Now in heaven, exalted high. Hallelujah, what a saviour.
[24:41] What a saviour. You know, my friend, as we stand at the cross with Christian this evening, we should be more like him.
[24:55] Because you know, far too often when we consider the cross, we're cold and clinical. We're detached and distant. We're remote and even reserved when we should just do as Christian did.
[25:12] Because at the cross, Christian stood looking and weeping at what his saviour had done for him. And that's what we should be doing.
[25:25] We should stand looking and weeping at what our saviour has done for us. We should stand looking and weeping at what our saviour has done for us.
[25:38] But before we move on, I want us to see that at the cross, Christian received attire. There was not only Calvary's great transaction, it was also Calvary's great transformation.
[25:53] Because it was at the cross that Christian's rags of righteousness were given to Christ. And Christ's robe of righteousness were given to Christian.
[26:05] And they really were rags of righteousness because as Isaiah says, our righteousness is as filthy rags in God's sight. And even Mr. Worley Wiseman, we read it a few pages earlier, that he noticed Christian's filthy rags of righteousness.
[26:23] He noticed how filthy Christian was after he had slipped and struggled in the slough of despondent. But it was at the cross that Christian, he not only experienced Calvary's great transaction, he also experienced Calvary's great transformation.
[26:39] Because it was at the cross that Christian, he received Christ's robe of righteousness. And like the prodigal son who returned home from the far country and from being in the pig's mire, Christian, he was clothed with the best robe.
[26:56] And he had a ring on his finger and he had shoes on his feet. And God the Father said about him, this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.
[27:11] But you know, Calvary's great transaction and Calvary's great transformation, you know what I love about the Bible? It gives us the end, even now.
[27:22] It reveals to us the climax and culmination of all that takes place at the cross. Because in Revelation chapter 7, we're told there that there is this great multitude which no man can number.
[27:39] And they're all gathered there from all the nations and all the tribes and peoples and languages from all over the world. And they're all standing before the throne and before the Lamb. And they're clothed, we're told.
[27:51] We're told they're clothed with robes of righteousness. Robes that were given to them at the cross. We're told that this great multitude, they're clothed in white robes.
[28:03] And they're all singing, singing, salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne. But you know, I love that question. In Revelation chapter 7, where one of the elders who's around the throne, he asks a question about this great multitude gathered there.
[28:24] And he says, who are these clothed in white robes? And where have they come from? And John the Apostle, he says to the eldest son, you know.
[28:38] To which the elder replies, he says, yes. These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. And they have washed their robes and they have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
[28:53] Therefore, he says, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits upon the throne, he will shelter them with his presence and they will hunger no more.
[29:04] Neither shall they thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. Why? Because the Lamb, the Lamb is in the midst of the throne and he will be their shepherd.
[29:16] He will guide them to springs of living water and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Who are these clothed in white robes?
[29:27] And where have they come from? My friend, that is the climax and culmination of Calvary's great transaction. It brings about Calvary's great transformation.
[29:41] We're at the cross, my friend. Our rags of righteousness are given to Christ, imputed to Christ and his robes of righteousness, they're given to us.
[29:54] That when God looks at us today, he doesn't see us for what we really are, but he sees us for what Jesus has done for us. You know, that's how Christian received assurance.
[30:09] It was all at the cross. And that's what I want us to see lastly, how Christian received assurance. It was at the cross that Christian received atonement.
[30:20] It was at the cross that Christian received attire, but it was also at the cross that Christian received assurance. Christian received assurance. Now, it's not clear as to who these shining ones were that Christian met at the cross.
[30:37] They were, of course, angels who appeared with a message and a message of purpose and promise. Maybe Bunyan had based them upon the three men who appeared before Abraham in Genesis 18, where they gave this a message of purpose and promise to Abraham.
[30:54] because you remember the three men in Genesis 18, they promised Abraham that through his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed. But as we said, when Christian stood looking and weeping at the cross, these three shining ones, they came to him, they welcomed him with words of peace and they each had a promise for Christian at the cross.
[31:19] The first, from the first, Christian received atonement. He said, your sins are forgiven. From the second, Christian received attire. He was stripped of his rags and given robes of righteousness.
[31:33] And from the third, Christian received assurance. He set a mark upon his forehead and he gave Christian a scroll with a seal upon it. You know, my friend, it was at the cross that Christian received assurance.
[31:47] Because, as I said before, I believe that Christian, he became, he became a Christian when he took that first step of faith and fled from the city of destruction. It was then that Christian was not only confessing that in Christ and Christ alone there is life, life, eternal life, but also because it was at that point that Bunyan refers to his pilgrim as Christian.
[32:12] That was the moment he became a Christian. But even though he was a Christian at that point, even though he was in Christ, even though he had been effectually called by the Holy Spirit and regenerated and adopted and justified, Christian didn't know that he was a Christian at that point.
[32:30] Because at that point, Christian didn't have assurance that he was a Christian. And he didn't have assurance that he was a Christian until he came to the cross and his burden of sin and shame rolled away.
[32:46] And so what we see is that in the pilgrim's progress there was this period, this period of time where Christians struggled with assurance before he came to full assurance of salvation.
[33:01] And you know, this was also through Bunyan's experience. He struggled with assurance for 18 months before he came to full assurance of salvation. And this is also true of many Christians.
[33:13] They struggle with assurance but what is your assurance? Your assurance is your confirmation that you're a Christian.
[33:24] Your assurance is your identity as one of the Lord's people. That's why Christian received a mark upon his forehead. That was his identity. That's what asserted and affirmed that he belonged to God and to no one else.
[33:41] And the scroll that was then placed in Christian's hand, it wasn't a Bible. It was a scroll with all the covenant promises of God sealed to him for the day of redemption.
[33:53] That was Christian's assurance. And you know, assurance is such an important issue in the experience of the Christian. It was such an important issue because even back in the 16th and 17th century when the Westminster Assembly met, they dedicated an entire chapter to Christian assurance.
[34:14] That's found in the confession of faith. It's certainly worth reading. Chapter 18. But when it comes to assurance, you know, many people ask, how do I know that I'm forgiven?
[34:30] How do I recognize that I'm a Christian? How can I be assured of my salvation? How can I be confident that my faith is genuine? How can I identify myself with Paul's confession of faith in Galatians 2, verse 20?
[34:46] How can I say without any hesitation, I have been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
[35:03] How do I know that that is true of me? You know, my friend, you know what happens? It all comes back to where we are looking and weeping.
[35:16] It all comes back to where we are looking and weeping. Because, my friend, if you're looking and weeping itself, then you're going to lack assurance and you're going to doubt and despair over your salvation.
[35:31] If you're looking and weeping itself, you are going to doubt and despair over your salvation. But if, like Christian, you're looking and weeping at the Saviour, if you're looking and weeping at the cross daily, then you will receive assurance.
[35:54] Because it was at the cross that Christian received assurance. And you know, as we consider the cross, Spanyan, he's not only showing us that Christ is our righteousness, he's also showing us that Christ is our assurance.
[36:11] Christ is our assurance. That's why another hymn writer could say, blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.
[36:22] Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine, heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his spirit, washed in his blood. My friend, our Christian assurance is precious and it needs to be protected because it is possible to lose it.
[36:44] Where we can lose our assurance, not, we can't lose our salvation, but we can lose our assurance due to a variety of reasons. Because of sin, sickness, suffering, or sorrow.
[36:56] And God willing, we'll touch on this next week when Christian loses his scroll of assurance and he has to go back to the place where he found it in order to find it. And you know, maybe for you, my friend, you might lack assurance tonight.
[37:11] You might have lost your assurance tonight. But what we're being reminded is that we need to come to the cross. We need to come to the cross because it's at the cross that Christian received atonement.
[37:28] It's at the cross that Christian received attire and it's at the cross that Christian received assurance. And that's where we need to come tonight. We need to stand looking and weeping at the cross upon which the Prince of Glory died.
[37:46] And it's there that we will find atonement and new attire and also assurance of salvation. And it's with that that Bunyan concludes.
[37:58] He says, then Christian gave three leaps for joy and went on singing. And God willing, next week, we'll consider where Christian went to in the pilgrim's progress.
[38:13] May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray. O our heavenly Father, we give thanks to thee for the cross of Jesus Christ.
[38:26] And we give thanks that that was the means and the method of God reconciling sinners to himself through sacrificing his own son as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world.
[38:42] And we pray this evening that we would look to the cross, that we would be like Christian looking and weeping, realising what this Saviour has done, that he has done in us and for us, exceedingly abundantly above all, more than we could ask or even think.
[39:00] O that we would look and see that greater love hath no man in this, that a man lay down his life for his friends, that you are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you.
[39:11] But Lord, in response to the cross, O that we would respond in faith and obedience, that we would respond in love, seeking to live our lives, looking to Jesus, and following Jesus, and serving Jesus, realising that he has done all for us, and that we should give our all for him.
[39:31] O do us good and we pray, bless us in the week that lies ahead, and keep the cross ever before us, that we would serve Jesus for the glory of his name.
[39:42] O do us good and we pray, take away our iniquity, receive us graciously, for Jesus' sake. Amen. We're going to bring our service to a conclusion this evening by singing the words of Psalm 61.
[39:56] Psalm 61 in the Sing Psalms version, and we're singing from the beginning down to the verse marked five. Psalm 61 from the beginning, this is David's prayer, he's longing, longing to see the rock that is higher than him.
[40:13] He says, O hear my urgent cry, my God, and listen to my plea, from earth's remotest bounds I call when my heart faints in me. O God, conduct me to the rock that's higher far than I, for you are my refuge from the foe, my tower of strength on high.
[40:34] So we'll sing Psalm 61 from the beginning down to the verse marked five, to God's praise. hear my urgent cry, my God, and listen to my plea.
[40:55] From earth's remotest bounds I call when my heart faints in me.
[41:09] O God, God, conduct me to the road that's higher, far than I, for you're my refuge from the foe, my love strength on high.
[41:46] O let me dwell within your tent forever there to live.
[41:59] O for the shelter of your wings, the refuge waits they give.
[42:16] For you have heard my verse, O God, O God, and you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name continually.
[42:44] your name continually. the and you have the heart and you have a heart and you have been to your heart and you have to see the heart and you