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[0:00] Well, if we could, with the Lord's help and the Lord's enabling this morning, if we could turn back to that portion of Scripture that we read, the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 3.

[0:15] Exodus chapter 3, and we're going to look at the first half of the chapter. But we'll read again from the beginning. Exodus chapter 3, reading from the beginning.

[0:26] Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

[0:40] And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.

[0:53] And particularly the words at the end of verse 2, it was not consumed. Or as we have it on our pulpit, nec tamen consume bator, it was not consumed.

[1:11] You know, using Latin to describe or even to depict something, it's not something we just do in church. Because as you know, there are many Latin phrases that we use in almost everyday language.

[1:26] Even the year for a start. We know that the year is 2021 AD. And AD stands for anno domini, which means in the year of our Lord.

[1:38] Or the phrase, the Latin phrase carpe diem, seize the day. And there's loads of other Latin phrases that we use. Ad hoc, bona fide, verbatim, verses, vice versa, et cetera.

[1:54] They're all Latin phrases that we've adopted into the English language. There's also five Latin phrases that emerged during the Reformation in the 16th century.

[2:06] God willing, we'll consider them next Lord's Day, because it'll be the 31st of October, which isn't Halloween, by the way. It's Reformation Day. And the five Latin phrases, you might have heard them before.

[2:19] It's sola scriptura, scripture alone. Sola gratia, grace alone. Sola fide, faith alone. Sola Christos, Christ alone. And soli Deo gloria, to the glory of God alone.

[2:31] And we'll look at them, God willing, next Lord's Day. But, you know, we're familiar with all these Latin phrases that come about. Even our clan mottos, they all have Latin on them, if you know your clan motto.

[2:44] Now, the clan Campbell motto is ne oblivis caris, which means forget not. And as many of you know, I do not live up to the Campbell motto, because I forget things all the time.

[2:59] But, you know, what's interesting is that the clan Clark motto, so if you know anybody who's got the surname Clark, the clan Clark motto is nektamin konsume bator. It was not consumed.

[3:12] But nektamin konsume bator, it's not only the clan Clark motto, it's also the motto of the church. It's the church's motto, because nektamin konsume bator, it has been the motto of many Presbyterian churches throughout the world for centuries.

[3:31] And needless to say, you could say, well, it's the motto of our church, because it's at the front of our church. So it's the motto of our church here in Barbas. nektamin konsume bator, it was not consumed.

[3:46] And the reason it's our motto is because it reminds and reaffirms to us three things. God's call, God's character, and God's commitment. nektamin konsume bator, it was not consumed.

[4:01] And it's our motto, because it reminds us and reaffirms to us, God's call, God's character, and God's commitment. And there are three headings this morning, as we look at the first half of this chapter.

[4:15] God's call, God's character, and God's commitment. So first of all, God's call. God's call. Look at verse 1 again. It says, Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian.

[4:31] And he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.

[4:45] And Moses said, I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, Moses, Moses.

[4:59] And he said, Here I am. Now as we said, the emblem of the burning bush, along with its Latin motto, Nectammon Consume Bator, it's the motto, as we said, of Presbyterian churches.

[5:15] Many Presbyterian churches throughout the world have this apron on their pulpit, and they use this motto, the motto of the church, and the motto of our church here in Barvis.

[5:26] And this motto, the motto of the Presbyterian church, it's on display for a reason. It's on display because of its history. The emblem of the burning bush and its Latin motto, it first appeared in the General Assembly of the Scottish Church during the late 17th century, in 1691.

[5:47] The General Assembly is just a gathering of ministers. Ministers gather each year, usually around May, May time, ministers gather together, and that's the General Assembly. And so in the General Assembly of 1691, they gathered together.

[6:03] And George Mossman, that was his name, George Mossman, he was appointed as a printer for the General Assembly. He had been appointed the previous year in 1690.

[6:14] But it was at the 1691 General Assembly that he introduced this emblem of the burning bush and its Latin motto, nectamon consumibator.

[6:26] And it has remained the motto of the Presbyterian church until this day. But you know, the reason George Mossman used the emblem of this burning bush and its Latin motto, it was because of what the reformer John Calvin had said.

[6:43] Calvin had said something about the burning bush in the previous century. And he said it during the Reformation. Because, you know, when Calvin looked at the burning bush, he saw it as a symbol of the church and a symbol of the people of God in every century.

[7:00] That when the church encounters and experiences the fires of persecution, it will not be consumed. That's what Calvin said. And Calvin said this because he held to the promise of Jesus Christ and his church.

[7:15] Where Jesus said about his church, I will build my church and the gates of hell, the fires of hell will not prevail against it. So, nectamon consumibator.

[7:26] It was not consumed. Now, the Scottish church certainly encountered and experienced the fires of persecution. even when it was established in 1560 under the reformer John Knox.

[7:40] But, you know, a century later, as you come into the 17th century, there was the Protestant and the Presbyterian church in Scotland. And it was under persecution. It was receiving pressure from the Roman Catholic state and the Roman Catholic sovereign.

[7:55] And there was a period in the 17th century called the Killing Times. And during that period, nearly 18,000 Protestant and Presbyterian members of the Scottish church, they were hunted and tortured and executed by the Roman Catholic state and the Roman Catholic sovereign.

[8:19] And these men who were hunted and tortured and executed and women, they were known as the Covenanters. And they were known as the Covenanters because they vowed and covenanted with God that Christ alone is the king and head of his church, not the sovereign and certainly not the Pope.

[8:39] But, you know, the Killing Times, they continued. And you can read about all of this. The Killing Times continued until 1688, which was the Glorious Revolution.

[8:49] And the Glorious Revolution was when King James II was deposed and then you have William of Orange and Queen Mary taking the throne. And then in 1690, for the first time in 35 years, the General Assembly of the Protestant and Presbyterian Church in Scotland, they met and was constituted.

[9:10] And it was at that assembly that George Mossman was appointed as a printer for the General Assembly and then on the following year, the Scottish Church implemented this emblem.

[9:22] And, you know, after all that they had been through in the past, in the previous century, with the Killing Times and thousands of people being put to death for simply being Protestant and Presbyterian, the emblem of the burning bush, it became so significant to the Presbyterian Church that they all claimed it, that that was their motto, nec tamen consume bato, it was not consumed.

[9:52] And, you know, as we said, it's not only the motto of many Presbyterian churches throughout the world, it's the motto of our church here in Barvis, that Jesus Christ alone, he is the king and head of his church.

[10:07] It's not the sovereign that's the king and head of the church, it's not the state that's the king and head of the church, and it's certainly not the pope that is the king and head of the church. No, Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone is the king and head of his church.

[10:21] And so when the church encounters and experiences the fires of persecution, according to Calvin, it will not be consumed because that was the promise of Jesus Christ.

[10:33] I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. You know, we have a fascinating church history, and I'd encourage you to read up about it.

[10:46] Maybe not in detail, but a general overview of Scottish church history is fascinating to look at. But as we said, the emblem of the burning bush and its Latin motto, it reminds and reaffirms to us God's call.

[11:01] God's call upon our lives. And we see that particularly here from the life of Moses. Because as we've discovered in our study of the book of Exodus, Moses is now 80 years old.

[11:15] He was 80 years old when God called him. The last time when we looked at chapter 2, we saw that chapter 2 had covered an 80-year period from Moses' birth until he was 80 years old in the wilderness of Midian.

[11:30] And during that time, we saw how the Lord protected and preserved and prepared Moses through his education in Egypt and also his experiences in Midian.

[11:41] And through it all, the Lord taught and trained this man to be the leader of God's people. And you know, as we said before, you know, when looking at the life of Moses, we have to see that nothing is wasted with the Lord.

[11:57] Nothing is wasted with the Lord. And it should be a reminder to us that nothing is wasted in our lives with the Lord. Because when we go through painful providences, when we experience and encounter sickness or sorrow or suffering in our lives, when we encounter enemies or obstacles of opposition or even times when we slip into sin, none of that is being wasted with the Lord.

[12:22] The Lord is using all of our experiences. He's using our education and He's using our experiences in order to support and to serve others.

[12:34] And that's what we learn from the life of Moses. The Lord uses our education and our experiences to support and serve others. But when you look at Moses, we see that, as one said before, the Lord doesn't call the equipped.

[12:52] He equips those whom He calls. The Lord doesn't call the equipped. He equips those whom He calls. And as Christians, the Lord has called us first and foremost to salvation.

[13:03] But He has also called us to service. The Lord has called us to service. Therefore, as we said before, we need to be wanting and willing to serve the Lord and seek His glory in our congregation and in our community.

[13:17] We need to be wanting and willing not to seek a position of status, but a position of service. because, my friend, we have been saved to serve.

[13:28] We have been saved to serve. And, you know, you might say to me, well, I'm not good enough. Or I'm not strong enough. Or I don't know enough. Or even, I'm too old to do it now.

[13:40] Or I'm too busy to serve the Lord. But, you know, when you look at Moses, you see that everything you might say, they're all excuses. They're all just excuses.

[13:53] Because when you look at Moses, you see a man who was anxious and apprehensive. You see a man who was very reserved and reticent. You see a man who was shy and even had a stutter.

[14:08] And Moses was someone who had a painful past. He was once the prince of Egypt, but now he's a pauper in Midian. And more than that, as we read in chapter 2 before, he had taken someone's life and then ran for his life.

[14:22] And now at this 80-year period in his life, he's now 80 years old, and guess what? He's not retired. He's still working. He's busy.

[14:34] He's out in the wilderness with his father-in-law's flock. And yet the Lord calls him to serve him. The Lord called Moses to serve him.

[14:45] You know, one commentator made the interesting observation about Moses and how busy he was at the age of 80. He said, it is significant that God calls people who are busy.

[14:57] Gideon was threshing grain. Samuel was serving at the temple. David was caring for sheep. Elisha was plowing. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were mending their nets.

[15:10] And Matthew was collecting taxes. And the commentator says, God has nothing good to say about laziness. I find that so challenging.

[15:21] God has nothing good to say about laziness. And you know, that's why Jesus said those challenging words to his church in John chapter 9. Do you remember when Jesus was speaking to his disciples in John 9?

[15:36] And he said to them, We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day because the night is coming when no one can work.

[15:47] And notice Jesus said, we must work. He didn't say, I must work or the Holy Spirit must work or the minister must work. No, Jesus says, we must work.

[16:00] We must work as the church of Jesus Christ. The Christian must work. The disciple must work. The one who has been saved to serve must work. And for Jesus, it was always a must of necessity.

[16:13] It was an imperative for the church of Jesus Christ that as long as we are in this world, we must work. We must be about our Father's business because we have been saved to serve.

[16:30] Therefore, we must listen to what Jesus says. We must work while it is day because the night is coming when no one can work. You know, you might be wondering, well, Mardo, what can I do?

[16:43] What can I do? My friend, there's plenty to do. Just make yourself available and ask. Make yourself available and ask.

[16:55] But you know, one thing we can all do is pray. We can pray for lost souls. We can pray for the sick. We can pray for the suffering.

[17:07] We can pray for the sorrowing. We can pray for the office bearers. Pray for our congregation. Pray for our community. Pray. That's one of the greatest works we can do.

[17:20] Nek tamen consume abator. It was not consumed. My friend, this is our motto because it reminds and it reaffirms to us of God's call. God's call upon our lives that we're saved to serve.

[17:36] But then secondly, we also see God's character. So God's call and God's character. Now look at verse 4. It says, When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, Moses, Moses.

[17:52] And he said, Here I am. Then he said, Do not come near. Take your sandals off your feet for the place on which you stand. You are standing as holy ground. And he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

[18:07] And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters.

[18:19] I know their sufferings. You know, there's much, there's so much of this encounter which explains and expresses the character of God to us.

[18:31] You know, the first thing we should note in these opening verses is the location of the Lord. Because we're told that Moses had an encounter. When he had an encounter with the angel of the Lord, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

[18:47] And we see that in verse 1. But Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai, they are the same mountain. Just the name that's used interchangeably in the Bible.

[19:00] So Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai, they're the same mountain. And as you know, the story of the Exodus, it centers around this mountain. Because it was at the top of Mount Sinai that the Lord appeared to Moses and gave to him the law and also the blueprint for the tabernacle.

[19:16] And you know, that's why many of the locals in Egypt, they refer to this mountain as Mount Moses or Jabal Musa. In fact, this mountain, Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb, whichever way you prefer it, it's part of a collection of mountain peaks along the Sinai Peninsula.

[19:34] And they're called the Holy Mountain Peaks. And of course, it's considered to be a holy peak because it was a holy place. It's where the Lord met with Moses.

[19:47] But we're not only told about the location of the Lord, we're also told here about the likeness of the Lord. We're told in verse 2 that the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.

[20:00] He looked and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And you know, whenever we read the angel of the Lord, it refers to a specific person.

[20:14] If you read the Bible and it says an angel of the Lord, it refers to any angel of the Lord. But when it reads the angel of the Lord, it's referring to the Lord himself or more specifically Jesus himself.

[20:31] He is the Lord. He's the messenger of God. He is what we would call the covenant king. He's the second person of the Trinity. He's the son of God.

[20:41] But we would also say that this is an appearing of a pre-incarnate Christ. He's the angel of the Lord. He's King Jesus. But you know, what's really interesting here is that we're not only told about the location of the Lord, we're also told about the likeness of the Lord.

[20:58] Because the angel of the Lord, he appeared before Moses in a flame of fire. Now, it's often been said that the burning bush was symbolic of the lives of the Israelites rather than symbolic of the likeness of the Lord.

[21:13] And some commentators, they claim that the burning bush represented Israel in the flames of persecution and pain. And that's where, obviously, where Calvin got that idea about the church suffering.

[21:27] But many people, they also say that the burning bush is actually symbolic of the likeness of the Lord. Because when the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire, it was symbolic of his holiness and the hallowedness of the Lord.

[21:48] As you know, fire is used to refine and reform precious metals. Fire is used to purify and prove precious metals. That's why the Lord is defined and described in the Bible as a consuming fire because he is holy.

[22:05] And as we often say in the Lord's Prayer, as we even said it earlier on, hallowed be thy name. His name is holy. But more than that, the Lord promises in his word to so work in our lives to refine and reform us, to purify and prove us as his people.

[22:25] that what will come forth is gold. You know, that's why the Apostle Peter could say that the trial of your faith, whether it's sin, sickness, suffering, or sorrow, the trial of your faith is much more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tried by fire, that it might be found unto praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

[22:48] My friend, our God is a holy God. He's a pure God. He is sinless, righteous, blameless, and set apart.

[23:01] You know, it was the prophet Habakkuk who said that our God is of purer eye than to behold iniquity and to look upon sin. He's of purer eye than to behold iniquity and to look upon sin.

[23:15] That's who our God is. He is a consuming fire. Fire. And you know, it ought to remind and reaffirm to us that God is not our pal.

[23:27] God is not our mate. God is certainly not the man upstairs. And he is not the clockmaker in the sky. God, as we are told in Scripture, he is a consuming fire.

[23:42] Therefore, we are to approach God, not casually and carelessly, but cautiously and carefully. We are to approach God, not casually and carelessly, but cautiously and carefully.

[23:59] Because we're to come before God, as Moses did, with reverence and respect. We're to see God as holy and hallowed. We're to see him as pure and perfect.

[24:11] We're to see him as righteous and royal. We're to see him as glorious and good. We're to see him as sinless and set apart. Yes, God is our heavenly Father, but he is also our holy Father.

[24:26] That's how Jesus addressed him in John 17. Holy Father. And it's only in and through Jesus that we can come to him, because Jesus is our advocate with the Father.

[24:41] He is our great high priest. He's our atoning sacrifice. He's the mediator between a holy God and sinful man. He is the man Christ Jesus.

[24:53] My friend, God is a consuming fire. And it's a fearful thing, says the Bible, to fall into the hands of the living God. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

[25:08] That's why we need Jesus. Jesus. We need him as our saviour, our substitute, and our sacrifice. God is holy.

[25:19] But you know, what we see here is that even though our God is holy and a consuming fire, what's remarkable about the burning bush is nektam and consume a batter. It was not consumed.

[25:33] When Moses saw that the bush was not consumed, he was intrigued, he was interested, and he went over, we're told, to investigate. He said, I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.

[25:46] Then the Lord saw that he turned aside to see. So God called to him out of the bush, Moses, Moses, and he said, here I am. Then he said, do not come near.

[25:56] Take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy. ground. You know, this meeting at the mountain of God, it not only revealed God's character, it also revealed Moses' character.

[26:13] Because as Moses came before King Jesus in the burning bush, the first thing Moses is told is, remove the shoes from off your feet.

[26:25] The ground you are standing on is holy ground. And you know, what we ought to see with that that those verses there is that this was the end of a life lesson in humility.

[26:38] This was the end of a life lesson in humility, because when Moses stood before King Jesus at the burning bush, the first thing Moses was made to realize was that he was a nothing and a nobody in the sight of a holy God.

[26:55] When Moses stood before King Jesus at the burning bush, he saw that he was a nothing and a nobody in the sight of a holy God. Do you remember last time when we were looking at chapter 2, we said that D.L.

[27:11] Moody, he had written these words about Moses. He said, Moses spent his first 40 years thinking he was a somebody. He spent the next 40 years learning that he was a nobody.

[27:23] And in his final 40 years, because he lived to 120, he discovered what God can do with anybody. In his first 40 years, Moses was educated as a prince in Egypt, and he thought he was a somebody.

[27:36] But during the next 40 years, from 40 to 80, Moses gained experience as a pauper in Midian, and he learned that he was a nobody. And what's more, Moses, we're told, is now a shepherd in Egypt, which means that Moses has descended, he has descended every rung of the social ladder right to the very bottom.

[27:56] He started as a prince, and now he is a pauper. He is a shepherd in Egypt. And if you remember from our study of the life of Joseph, shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians.

[28:12] Shepherds were the outcasts. They were rejects. Nobody liked shepherds. And so, Moses has gone from a prince down to a pauper, down to a shepherd.

[28:22] He had reached the lowest of the low in life. And now at the end of his 80-year life lesson in humility, Moses is now standing before Jesus in the burning bush.

[28:33] And what does he see? He sees that he is a nothing. And he is a nobody in the sight of a holy God. And you know, my friend, that's what happens when you are confronted with the character of God.

[28:47] You see that you are a nothing and a nobody in the sight of God. And you know, that's how God's servants should be. We're all called to serve, but we should all see that we are a nothing and a nobody in the sight of a holy God.

[29:07] We are a nothing and a nobody, and that without him, without him, we can do nothing, and we are nothing. You know, it's a life lesson in humility.

[29:18] D.L. Moody was right. Moses spent his first 40 years thinking he was a somebody. The next 40 years thinking he was a nobody. And the last 40 years of his life, with these children in the wilderness, he learned what God can do with anybody.

[29:34] And that's what we should see, my friend, that we are a nothing and a nobody. But it's amazing what God can do with anybody. But you know, what we should also see is that the humiliation of God's servant Moses, it foreshadowed the humiliation of the suffering servant Jesus Christ.

[29:56] The humiliation of God's servant Moses, it foreshadowed the humiliation of the suffering servant Jesus Christ. Where our Jesus, as you know, he's the Prince of Glory.

[30:08] He was the Prince of Glory. He was sovereign with a crown, and yet he became the Good Shepherd of Calvary, who laid down his life for the sheep. He humbled himself from the crown to the cradle, down to the cross.

[30:23] It was all downwards, down, down, down, from the crown to the cradle to the cross, from glory to Golgotha to the grave. And he humbled himself.

[30:34] Why? So that he would be our Savior. He would be our substitute, and he would be our sacrifice for our sin. Neck tamen consume a batter.

[30:47] It was not consumed. My friend, that's our motto. That's our motto because it reminds us and reaffirms to us God's call, God's character, and lastly and very briefly, time is going, God's commitment.

[31:02] God's commitment. God's commitment. Look at verse four again. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, Moses, Moses, and he said, here I am.

[31:17] Then he said, do not come near, take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you're standing is holy ground. And he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

[31:29] And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their task masters.

[31:41] I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and with honey.

[31:56] And you know, when the angel of the Lord spoke to Moses from the burning bush, this is the amazing thing, this was the first time that the Lord had spoken to his people in over 400 years.

[32:09] This was the first time he had spoken in 400 years, because as we said before, after the death of Joseph, there was this 400-year period with no prophetic word from the Lord.

[32:22] There were no covenant assurances, there was no reminder that the Lord was still with them, there was nothing. There was silence, absolute silence. Of course, the Lord was sovereignly but silently working in the lives of his people, and particularly in the life of Moses.

[32:40] But in that 400-year period, there was silence. But what we ought to see here in this occasion of the burning bush is that the silence was broken. God's silence was broken, and it was broken because of God's commitment to his people.

[32:58] The silence of God was broken because of God's commitment to his people. My friend, when the Lord spoke for the first time in 400 years, he asserted and he affirmed his commitment to his people.

[33:13] He said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

[33:27] You know, the Lord had been committed to his covenant throughout all those generations, these previous generations of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Lord had repeatedly reaffirmed to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

[33:39] He had said to them, that covenant promise, I will be your God, you shall be my people. And now the Lord reaffirms his covenant commitment to Moses and also to the Israelites.

[33:50] And he's saying to them, I am committed to saving you from slavery and bondage in Egypt. I'm committed to saving you.

[34:02] That's the Lord's commitment. God willing, we'll look at this in more detail next time when we look at the second half of the chapter. But what I want to say just in conclusion is that the burning bush, it ought to remind and reaffirm to us that God is committed to the salvation of his people.

[34:24] God is committed to all those who cry out to him for mercy. God is committed to all those who seek him with all their heart. God is committed to those who come before him and confess their sin.

[34:39] God is committed to you when you commit your life to him. You know, that's the promise that Moses received at the burning bush.

[34:51] And you know, my unconverted friend, that's your promise this morning. Your promise from God's word is that God is committed to you when you commit your life to him.

[35:05] He is committed. As the Lord said to Moses, I will go with you. The moment you commit your life to the Lord, the Lord goes with you.

[35:15] The Lord is with you. My unconverted friend, God is committed to you when you commit your life to him. you know, the promise of the Bible, and I want you to take this promise with you.

[35:31] The promise of the Bible says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, you are included in that promise because you are whosoever. Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

[35:46] And that's God's commitment to you. That's his commitment to you. He's absolutely 100% committed to you. Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord will, there's no doubt, will be saved.

[36:03] And so, every time you come to church, and it's great you're here, I love seeing you in church, but every time you come to church and you see this emblem of the burning bush, I want you to remember that that's the motto of this church.

[36:16] That's the motto of this church. Neck tamen consume a battle. It was not consumed. And that motto that you see every time you sit in church, I wanted to remind you and reaffirm to you, as a Christian, God's call, you are saved to serve.

[36:34] You are saved to serve. Secondly, God's character, he is holy, therefore we are here to worship him. God's call, God's character, and my unconverted friend for you, God's commitment to you.

[36:49] God's commitment. This is your promise, God's commitment to you. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. That's his commitment to you.

[37:01] It's a wonderful, wonderful emblem. And I hope it stays there forever, that everyone who comes in here is reminded of God's call, God's character, and God's commitment.

[37:15] Neck tamen consume a battle. It was not consumed. Amen. May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray.

[37:27] O Lord, our gracious God, we give thanks to thee for thy word, and that thy word calls us to serve. It calls us, first and foremost in the gospel, to come to Christ, and to seek him while he's to be found.

[37:42] But when we are found, we are saved to serve. And Lord, help us to work while it is day, because we know the night is coming when no one can work.

[37:54] Help us, Lord, not only to work, but also to worship, to realize that the word of God who is holy and worthy of praise, adoration, and worship. And Lord, we pray for our unconverted friends, all, Lord, that they would see that the word of God who is committed to them, a God who promises to them so clearly, so graciously, that whosoever shall call upon thy name will be saved.

[38:22] Bless them, Lord, we pray. Speak to them, we ask, and that we would all be able to exalt the name of the Lord together. Oh, Lord, go before us, we pray.

[38:32] Keep us on this day, thine own holy day. Help us to use the Sabbath day for the furtherance of thy kingdom and the glory of thy name. Be near to us, we pray.

[38:44] Take away our iniquity. Receive us graciously. For Jesus' sake. Amen. Well, we're going to bring our service to a conclusion this morning by singing in Psalm 29.

[38:58] Psalm 29, it's in the Scottish Psalter. It's on page 238. Psalm 29. A psalm that calls us to worship the Lord because he is holy and also because his voice is powerful.

[39:26] That's a wonderful psalm. Psalm 29 from the beginning. Give ye unto the Lord, ye sons, that of the mighty be, all strength and glory to the Lord with cheerfulness give ye.

[39:38] Unto the Lord the glory give, that to his name is Jew, and in the beauty of holiness unto Jehovah bow. And we'll sing on down to the verse marked four of Psalm 29 to God's praise.

[39:51] praise. Amen. Give ye unto the Lord, ye sons, that of the mighty be, all strength and glory to the Lord with cheerfulness give thee.

[40:26] Unto the Lord the glory give, that to his team is true.

[40:42] And in the beauty of holiness, unto Jehovah.

[40:59] The Lord's voice on the waters is, the Lord of majesty.

[41:16] The thunder and the thunder of wages, the waters enter thee.

[41:30] A powerful voice it is that comes, but from the Lord was high.

[41:48] The voice of the great Lord is true, of glorious majesty.

[42:07]  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and forevermore. Amen.