Let us commence the worship of
God this day with prayer. Almighty God, creator and sustainer
of heaven and earth, we once again bow before thee as king
of kings and lord of lords. We thank thee, Lord, for this
day that has been set aside for worship, and we pray, Lord, that
as we have come in from the world for a little while, that thou
draw near unto us. Lord, we seek thy face, thy favour
and blessing upon our worship. We pray that our souls may be
fed as we know that man does not live by bread alone, but
every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God does man
live. And we pray then, Lord, that we may feed upon thy word,
that we may be sustained and strengthened to press on in this
world in the narrow way that leads to life. We pray for thy
blessing to rest upon each aspect of this service as we sing thy
praises, as we read from thy holy word, as we seek to expound
thy word and as the little ones and the young ones come and to
recite the scriptures and to sing to us and to sing unto thee
we pray lord that all may be done for thy honour and for thy
glory do draw near then and forgive us of our many sins and do make
up where we fail as we pray in the name of the lord jesus christ
amen I'll give you a warm welcome
to our Sunday school service this morning. I will open this
by singing hymn number 156 from Hymns of Worship, Psalm 23. 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. Hymn number 156 from Hymns of
Worship, to the tune number 851. Who's my shepherd? I'll not want. He makes me dance
to life. Imposter's greed. He leadeth me, the quiet waters
by. My soul He doth restore again,
and me to walk doth make. live in the path of righteousness,
in full his love and say, Though I walk in death's darkness,
Yet will I fear the moon, For Thou art with me, and Thou art
God. and stop me, God, the sin. My faithful heart has perished
in presence of my Father. I am the dust before the Lord
and my comforter. ? Bless and mercy all my life ?
? Shall surely follow thee ? ? And in the south for evermore go
? Just turn together in God's holy
word to Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3. Now the serpent was more subtle
than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he
said unto the woman, Yea, as God said, ye should not eat of
every tree of the garden. And the woman said unto the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, But of the
fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God
hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it,
lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the
woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the
day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and
ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman
saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree to be desired, to make one wise, she
took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her
husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both
were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed
fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard
the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of
the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves
from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto
Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard
thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked
and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that
thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof
I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The
woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree,
and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the
woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said,
The serpent beguiled me, or tricked me, and I did eat. And the Lord
God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art
cursed above all the cattle, and above every beast of the
field. Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and the dust shalt thou eat
all the days of thy life. and I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman
he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth
children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall
rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, because
thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten
of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying that thou shalt
not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for thy
sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall
it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.
In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread, till thou return
unto the ground. For out of it was thou taken,
for thus thou art, and unto thus shalt thou return. And Adam called
his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of
skins and clothe them. And the Lord God said, Behold,
the man is now become as one of us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his
hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live for
ever. Therefore the Lord God sent him
forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence
he was taken. So he drove out the man. and
he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubims with
a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of
the Tree of Life. May the Lord add his blessing
to the reading of his word and may he now help the little ones
to come to the front and to sing and to recite their texts. Thank
you. Today we recite the Gospel of
John, chapter 3, verses 1 to 21. There was a man of the Pharisees,
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
And the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi,
we know that thou art a teacher come from God. For no man can
do these miracles that thou dost, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said unto him,
How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second
time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered and said
unto him, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter the kingdom of God. Thou which is born of flesh is
flesh, and thou which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Love will not die, said unto
thee, you must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hear'st the sound thereof. But canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto
him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto
him, Art thou the master of Israel? knowest not these things? Verily,
verily, I say unto you, we speak that we do know, and testify
that we have seen, and you receive not our witnesses. If I have
told you of earthly things, and you believe not, how shall you
believe if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended
up to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, even the Son
of Man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
Whoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have eternal
life. For God so loved the world, that
He forgave His only-forgotten Son, that whoever believed in
Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God sent not his Son into the
world, but to condemn the world, that the world through him might
be saved. He that believeth on him is not
condemned, but he that believeth on him is not condemned already. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the unforgotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation,
the light is coming to the world. Men love darkness rather than
light, because they are dear to evil. For everyone that doeth
evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his
deeds should be reproved. But he that doth truth cometh
into the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they
are wrought in God. ? His righteousness ? And all these
things shall be added unto you ? Allelu, Alleluia ? Alleluia ?
Alleluia Shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Alleluia. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia,
Allelu, Alleluia. Our spirit shall be given unto
you, ? Your kindness shall be given
to you ? ? Allelu, Alleluia ? ? Your kindness shall be given to you
? ? Allelu, Alleluia ? ? Your kindness shall be given to you
? your Bibles or read your books,
you can put these in and remember where you left off. So we've
got Asha, Ash, Boaz, Edie, Jessica, Almanzo. And Richard. Isaac. Alice. Ezia. Florence. Lucy. Zachary. Thank you very much. Let's come
to the Lord in prayer. Almighty God, we bow before Thee once again, the
true and living God. We acknowledge, Lord, Thou art
in heaven, our dwelling place, and we here upon this earth. We thank Thee for Thy goodness
and Thy mercy towards us. We thank Thee for Thy Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Thee, Lord, for that
truth Thou didst so love the world that thou didst give thine
only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that whosoever believes
in him should not perish in their sin, but have everlasting life. We thank thee, Lord, that this
is not to do with our own works of righteousness, but we thank
thee that it is by the moving of thy Holy Spirit that thou
art able to change hard hearts and bring sinners into a relationship
with thyself through the finished work of thy beloved son. We thank
thee Lord that we have the privilege of being able to proclaim the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and we thank thee that we have
that privilege of being able to sing thy praises. We are able
to quote and memorise thy scriptures, and we pray that thy word might
have an abiding place in our hearts. We pray, Lord, that even
today that our hearts may be ploughed up and be a good ground
for the seed to enter in, that it may bear fruit for thy honour
and for thy glory. We pray, Lord, for these children. We thank thee for them. We thank
the Lord that they're able to come and to memorise and able
to come and to learn of the Lord Jesus Christ and that they're
able to sing of the wonders of salvation. And we pray, Lord,
that as they come week by week, as they learn from thy word,
as they sit around the family altar, as they listen to the
word being read and as they sit under the explanation and exposition
of thy holy word, we pray, that thy Holy Spirit may bring them
to that true knowledge of these things. We ask, Lord, that they
may know the Lord Jesus Christ for themselves, that they may
come and sit at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, that they
will not be like Martha, cumbered about much serving, occupied
with so many other things that they have no regard for the Lord
Jesus. We pray that they may sit at
his feet, and learn of him. We pray Lord that thou make us
each true disciples of the Lord Jesus, true followers of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Do give us that faith needed
to step out and to follow the Lord Jesus wherever he will lead
we will go. We pray for each one then that
has gathered. We give these thanks for each
one. We give these thanks for bringing
us to another end of term for the Sunday school. And we pray
that the Sunday school teachers may now undergo some rest. Lord, that thou encourage them
and bless them in their souls. Do prepare them for the new term
in a month or so's time. And Lord, we pray that other
children may be brought in, other children may be added to this
Sunday school. We thank thee Lord that thou
hast heard prayer and we pray that thou go on to draw people
into this place. Thou hast said in the word, allow
the little children to come unto me and forbid them not. We know
Lord that the education system does not teach them of thyself
and we pray that We may be the ones to teach these children,
our neighbours, about the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that
those that pass by, that they may be drawn in, that they may
know what it is to have that prompting of the Spirit. that
voice inside their head, bringing them to this place of worship.
And Lord, we pray that we may be granted those accepting hearts,
Lord, that heart that is willing to be the least, willing to be
humble, willing to serve. Lord, we pray that remove from
our minds any pharisaical attitude, but give us the true mind of
the Lord Jesus Christ. This man receive his sinners. And Lord, we pray then that thou
bless Emily, Edwin and Tom for their labours and do be with
each of the little children. We pray, Lord, for each then
who have gathered. Let us know our concerns and
the things that weigh heavy upon the heart of many, Lord. It is through much tribulation
we have been told that we must enter thy kingdom and we know,
Lord, that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
the powers and principalities and the kingdom of darkness,
we wrestle against our own flesh, our own sinfulness and weakness
and Lord we pray that thou grant us that refreshing this day as
we come to worship. We pray Lord for those who have
been laid aside through sickness, we thank thee for a restoration,
we pray for those who struggle week by week with mental afflictions
of depression and anxiety. Lord, we ask that they may be
enabled to know some peace and some calm. We pray for those
passing through extremely difficult and hard circumstances, those
who do not know what to do. As it were, they stagger to and
fro like a drunken man or drunken woman at their wits end. Lord,
we pray that they may I know thy help, thy strength and thy
comfort and the peace of the Holy Spirit. Lord, we ask that
thou help us when we don't know what to do, when the way ahead
seems confusing, when the mountains seem so high and the crooked
things seem to be so crooked. Lord, we ask for that faith.
to trust in thee, to rest upon thy holy word, knowing that the
mountains can be made a plain and the crooked things can be
made straight, and Lord we pray that thou give us that faith,
that thou increase our faith, that we may enter into those
things in which we were so afraid of, but knowing, Lord, that Thou
art in full control. We thank Thee, Lord, that Thou
art a God who is on the mountaintops and also in the valleys. We thank
Thee, Lord, that Thou art near to Thy people, that Thou art
an ever-present friend in times of trouble, We thank Thee, Lord,
that Thou art a friend who sticks closer than a brother. We know, Lord, that our families,
yes, there are times when they are not around us, Lord, but
we thank Thee that Thou art ever near and we pray that Thou then
bless us with that faith to trust and to rest upon Thee. We pray Lord for the families
amongst us, do be with them, we pray uphold us, provide for
us, give us that ability to raise our children in thy knowledge
and fear, help us to be godly examples as husbands and wives
help us to be witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ in our homes
and in our in our neighborhoods and Lord we pray that thou bless
the children as they go to school or at home schooling to be with
those at university and college go before them help them to be
diligent We pray they may be kept from peer pressure, wanting
to fit in, help them to realise that they are, as Christians,
a strange and a peculiar people, a people who are set aside for
the glory of God. Help them, Lord, to shine as
lights in a dark place and to be faithful witnesses of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We pray, Lord, for those unable
to be with us today, to be with them, bless them through the
means that have been given to us And Lord, we thank Thee that
Thou art God who is not limited, that Thou art able to be here
and all over this whole world, even if we go up to the mountains,
Lord, Thou art there. And down into the depths of the
earth, Thou art there also. And we pray then that Thou bless
Thy people wherever they meet together this day. We ask, Lord,
for help to be given to each who are ministering thy word.
We pray for Keith as he hopes to minister this evening. We
pray for David as he continues to recover from the operation. Lord, we pray that he may know
the blessing, a blessing in his soul. Do fill him, Lord, that
he may go forth again to pour out all that thou hast revealed
unto him from thy holy word. Do bless each of those who minister
thy word this day. we ask lord that thou continue
to build thy church and we know that the gates of hell will not
prevail thy people will be gathered in the shepherd will go forth
and gather those lost sheep and we pray lord for that encouragement
we thank thee for the the work of the TBS and the encouragement
that that gave, that Graham gave to us on Friday. We thank the
Lord for that continued hunger for the word of God and we pray
that those who are translating may be given that diligence and
that ability, and that all finances also may be covered, and that
thy word may continue to go forth, that the whole of this world,
all the nations, may have the word of God in their own language. We pray for Sam and Hannah to
be with them today, Lord. We pray as they minister to be
with Hannah's parents as they are with her also. Keep them
safe from any harm and danger, any malaria, or any dangerous
venomous animals Lord we pray for safety and we ask that they
may have a blessed and an encouraged time there we pray Lord for Our
persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ throughout this world,
we think especially again of those who are persecuted in Nigeria,
having to flee their homes. We pray for others in various
lands, Lord, we pray that thou encourage them, help them and
strengthen them, keep them faithful. We ask even unto death, Lord,
help them, we pray. Do provide for their every need. We ask then, Lord, that thou
draw near to us once again. Help us, Lord, to sing thy praises. Help me and do grant me that
strength needed to speak in thy name. Open up thy word, we pray,
and pour in that I might be an hour to pour out. Do forgive
us, Lord, of our sin, as we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Amen. God willing, the notices of the
coming week. We have the ladies' meetings
at Crystal's house this Tuesday at 3pm. Also on Wednesday at
7.15pm we have the prayer meeting taken by our pastor. God willing,
our pastor will preach next Lord's Day at 11 and 6.30pm. The Sunday school and Bible study
have now shut for the summer. Please keep in prayer our brother
Keith, God willing, who's going to take this service this evening.
And also a big thank you to everyone who helped yesterday at the Sunday
school outing and hope we all had a blessed time together.
Our next hymn is from Gatsby's hymn number 88. How wondrous
are the works of God, Displayed through all the world abroad,
Immensely great, immensely small, Yet one strange work exceeds
them all. Hymn number 88 from Gadsby's
to the tune 284. Immensity great, immensity small,
Yet one strange world that seems damnable. He formed the sun, her warmth
of light, Helming the stars to grow the night. of light and stars, and men and
son, our little ones, compared with one. He rode the sea. the skies. May valleys sink and mountains
rise. The meadows grow with native
green, and bank the river's mind between. Jesus Christ, Lord is, over the
hills of Brighton Hills. There one last man was born. ? The wonders of redeeming love
? ? Distra beyond what words express ? ? What saints can fill
or angels can fill ? ? Angels that hear the great I Am ? ?
Go down that path before the Lamb ? ? The righteous saints
are short of this ? Tis deeper than the vast abyss, Tis more
than foes can ever conceive, For her pit's fate all faith
beneath. The Lord of Life experienced death. How it was done we can't discuss. ? A kiss we give to stand for
us ? ? Let's lift this face and let
us raise ? ? Our hearts in love, our voice in praise ? ? Who thinks to us as worth for
guilt ? ? For whom the man has shed his blood? ? ? Vials we press on every soul
? ? They may be sold, they must be shown ? ? We now believe the
sins shown you have done ? greatest glory to thee. Seeking once again the help of
God, I'd like you to turn with me to the chapter that we read
together at Genesis chapter 3 and the text you'll find in verse
24. So he drove out the man and he
placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming
sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of
life. The children have been reading
to us the very well-known chapter of John, chapter 3. As we saw on Friday, the Gospel
according to John is always one of the first chapters of the
Bible, the first books of the Bible. to be translated as they
send the Bible into other languages because it sets before very clearly
the way of salvation and especially John 3.16 that God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And as we look through the whole
of the scripture the scripture tells us the reason why everything
is how it is. The reason why when we listen
to the news and we read the newspapers and we watch the news and we
see round about us violence and drunkenness and sadness and misery,
selfishness And the Bible makes it very clear as to the reason
why all of these things have taken place. God made Adam and
Eve and he made them perfect. He made them in the Garden of
Eden where they could fellowship with him. He gave them one law,
which they were not to eat of the tree of knowledge and of
good and evil. And as we read, they listened
to the words of Satan and they disobeyed God. God had made it
very clear to them, if you eat of this tree, then you will die. But Satan came as a liar. The Bible teaches us that Satan
is the father of lies. One of his great tactics is to
sow doubt into the mind of people so that they do not believe the
word of God and that they would rather listen to lies than listen
to the truth of the word. And so he tempted Eve and told
her that if she ate of the tree she would not die but she would
become wise. She would become like God knowing good and evil
and so Eve took of that fruit and she gave to her husband who
was Adam and they both ate and they both now lost that innocence
that they had. They lost that innocence, they
lost that union and that relationship with God. Once they were not
afraid of God but now we find them hiding themselves in the
garden. They were hiding from God as
God walked in the garden in the call of the day he called out
Adam where are you? Adam was hiding he was afraid
and this is one of the consequences of sin. that man now fears God. He fears or he's unable to go
into the presence of God. God, the Bible teaches us, is
holy. He's unable to look upon sin.
He hates sin. But in his mercy he provided
a way of salvation. The relationship, yes, was broken. but God in his mercy provided
a way in which this relationship could be reconciled. He first
asks Adam, Adam being the head of his wife, he asks him, why,
who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree? And
Adam immediately begins not to confess his sin but to blame,
to blame. He blames God. He says, the woman
that you gave me. It's not very easy, is it, to
confess our sins. It's not very easy to admit that
we have done something wrong. When you are told off by your
mum or dad, you often bring up excuses. Oh, he told me to do
it. And so we normally say, well,
if they told you to jump off a cliff, would you do that as
well? So we're very quick to make excuses and to reason why
we have been naughty and disobedient and to blame other people. And so Adam began to blame God. It's God's fault. You gave me
this woman and this is the woman that has caused me to sin and
to be disobedient. It's not my fault. Eve begins
to blame Satan that it's not her fault Satan enticed her Eve
listened to Satan and Adam listened to Eve and they all were disobedient
to God and so because of the sin of Adam the relationship
between God and man was severed it broke down. I don't know if
you've ever had friends maybe friends at school or friends
with your neighbours and you have an argument and the relationship
it breaks down. You don't want to talk to them
you say well I'm not speaking to them anymore I don't want
to look at them I don't want to go around their house we're
filled with anger well God Adam sinned against God and that relationship
broke down and God chased Adam from the Garden of Eden. They
lived in this perfect place with God, with the animals, with the
trees, no weeds, no sickness, no illness. And they were chased
from that beautiful place. In verse 23 it says therefore
the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the
ground whence he was taken. But then the language gets a
little bit stronger. So he drove out the man. It's
like the Lord sent him forth, told him to go. because of the
beauty of the Garden of Eden and the realisation of the sin
that he had committed and the consequences of that sin that
he was going to now have to be separated from God and go into
the world to till the land. He was reluctant to go out and
so God had to drive out the man from the Garden of Eden and to
stop him From entering back into the Garden
of Eden, the Lord placed two angels, cherubims, with flaming
swords, turning this way and that way to keep the Tree of
Life. Now this was God acting in great
mercy. You know, there are some people
in this world who want to live forever. There are very wealthy
people who spend thousands and thousands of pounds and dollars
trying to get their body perfect so that it would be unable to
die. They eat special food, they protect
themselves from any germs, they are able even to have plastic
joints so their bodies don't wear out and they spend all this
money on trying to live forever. But I would think that there
is no Christian, no real Christian who wants to live forever, not
in this body. And God knew that man would not
want to live in sin forever and ever and ever. And so he placed
at the Garden of Eden two angels to stop Adam and Eve and their
descendants from entering back into the Garden of Eden, lest
they should eat of the tree of life and live forever. Can you imagine? It is the believer's hope. that one day they will die and
that they will enter into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You imagine for a moment what it would be like to live forever
and ever and ever and ever in this body, this body that is
prone to sickness, to weakness, to sadness, to calamity, to tiredness,
to sin, to doubts and fears. as Christians become near the
end of their journey, they have that longing to depart and to
be with Christ, which is much better. And so the Lord in his
mercy, he acted in mercy and in judgment to send man out from
his presence, but then to block off the door so that he would
not live forever in sin. And so he was sent to dig the
ground from whence he came. One thing I noticed is that when
Adam was in the Garden of Eden he was told that he could eat
of every tree of the Garden of Eden. He was allowed to eat freely
of the trees. apart from that one tree of knowledge
and a good and good and evil and if you you've ever been into
an orchard and you've seen the apples or orange trees or pear
trees they're all at that height aren't they you don't have to
bend down you can just take them or you look up and you look for
the different fruits there that are on the tree and so it was
an easy work for them to do they're constantly at eye level or looking
up we could say looking up to God and able to feed freely and
easily but now as the consequence of sin Adam has to go and till
the ground from where he was taken. It was a constant reminder
to him that you've sinned against God. God created you from the
ground and one day you're going to end up back into that ground. His food source was going to
be from the ground rather than completely from the trees where
he is looking up and looking at the wonder of creation and
looking at the Lord. Now he's doing back-breaking
work tilling the ground, fighting with weeds and thistles, getting
cut, sweating, all just to provide for his own body and for that
of his wife and then as they later come and have children. And so Adam was constantly reminded
of his sin. Constantly reminded of where
he came from and where he was going back to. Constantly reminded
that he had sinned against God and he'd thrown away that perfect
place in which he was, in which he lived. If you think of the prodigal
son in the gospel according to Luke, chapter 15, the prodigal
son had it all. He lived in a good
place. His father was wealthy. He had
prospect of land. He had a brother. He had a father,
no doubt a mother. But he threw it all away for the pleasures of this world
Just like Adam, he threw it all away beautiful garden of Eden,
yet tempted by his wife, who was tempted by Satan to disobey
God, he threw it all away and suffered the consequences of
his sin, sweat and toil. And so it is with this young
man, as he rejects his father and he takes his inheritance,
he goes off into the world and he uses all the money that his
father had given to him and he wastes it on riotous living. Then he comes to himself, he
realises the foolishness of his sin. He realises the consequences
of his choice, of his action, to run away from his father and
blow all of his money on riotous living and he ends up living
and feeding pigs and eating the husks which the pigs eat. So he comes to himself, he says,
How many of my hired servants, of my fathers, have bread enough
to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will rise and go to my father,
and I will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven
and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
Make me as one of thy hired servants. and he arose and came to his
father but when he was yet a great way off his father saw him and
had compassion and ran on his and fell on his neck and kissed
him and said and the son said unto him father i have sinned
against heaven and in thy sight and I'm no more worthy to be
called thy son.' But the father said unto the servants, bring
forth the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his
hand and shoes on his feet and bring hither the fatted calf
and kill it and let us be merry for this my son was dead and
is alive again he was lost And it's found and they began to
be merry. And so just as God right there
in the Garden of Eden acted with mercy and with judgment, he dealt
with Adam, not according to his sin, but in dealing with him,
he provided this way of escape, this way of mercy. Adam did not
die immediately. He began physically to die. He experienced the separation
of God, that spiritual death. But God gave him a promise that
the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head, that there
would be one who would come, who would gain the victory over
Satan, who would reverse the curse that had fallen upon the
human race. And so it was. that Adam was
given this great promise and this great promise runs through
the whole of the Old Testament until we come to the Lord Jesus
Christ who brings about that reconciliation. So as God drove
Adam from the Garden of Eden and from his presence so God
himself brings about that reconciliation and that's what you children
were were reciting to us the wonder of salvation, the wonder
of the gospel, that God, yes, in his anger chased Adam away
from his presence and the relationship broke down, but God in his mercy
provided a way of reconciliation where this relationship could
be restored. and that sin could be removed. Again if we go back to chapter
15 of Luke we have there the parable of the lost sheep. Jesus tells that parable of what
man of you having a hundred sheep if he lose one of them does not
leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go after that
which was lost until he finds it. And so it is the Lord Jesus
Christ or God himself Yes, God chased away Adam, but God now
makes that step by which to bring about reconciliation. Salvation belongs to God and
God alone. He is the initiator of it, the
designer of it. And he does so through his beloved
son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the lost sheep gives us
that illustration of our condition. Excuse me. When Adam sinned against
God, he became lost. He became like a lost sheep.
And the Bible tells us we all like sheep that we have gone
astray. Sometimes when we are out with
our parents, we can get lost. Maybe you go into the sweet shop
and you're in the shopping centre and mum and dad walk off and
you're there and you're looking at all the sweets or you're looking
at all the toys and you're so distracted that mum and dad they've
gone and you don't even realise that you're lost yet you're so
into all that you're looking at. You're so occupied with all
of the things that you wish you could have that you don't realise
that you're lost. And the Bible tells us that that
is how everybody is. They're so occupied with the
things that are around about them that they don't realise
that they are lost. Although that they are lost,
yet they don't realise that they are lost. Until a time comes when they
notice mum and dad aren't near. Do you recognize that feeling?
Have you ever been somewhere where you suddenly realize that
you're lost? That panic, your heart starts
racing, you look left, you look right, you run this way, you
run that way, you have no idea where mum and dad are, then you
begin to cry. Then you say, mummy, daddy, you
start shouting and you're searching for your mum and dad. and you
won't rest until you find them. The Bible tells us that we are
lost but we don't realise that sometimes some children and some
adults they come to this realisation that they are lost The things
of the world that once distracted them so much, the ones that they
enjoyed so much, they realize that they're not attractive to
them anymore and they begin to search. They look this way and
they look that way and they're searching for something. They're panicking within. Graham
Tutor told us, didn't he, of a young man who was laying in
his bed and thought to himself, is this the meaning of life. just getting up and doing this
and that surely there must be something more to life and he
tried different religions, he tried to be a Muslim, he tried
to be a Hindu and then as he was passing Bedford Chapel he
picked up the Bible and began to read the Bible and the Lord
touched him. You see he was lost and he realised
he was lost and he was searching and searching and searching until
he found that which he was looking for. We live in a world that
is filled with lies. Just like Satan, he says, has
God said. He brings doubts all the time
into the lives of people. But the truth of God's word is
unchanged. so the man he found the truth
of God's word and with the spirits opening up his understanding
he believed the truth of God's word he trusted in the Lord Jesus
Christ and his relationship that was broken with God is now restored
through the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
great mediator, that one who brings about reconciliation by
shedding his blood upon the cross. Sometimes you see pictures, don't
you, of a cross. The cross was one of the most
cruel ways in which someone could die. As we look at the image of a
cross we see that one arm was placed on this side and one arm
was placed on that side and the Bible tells us that the Lord
Jesus Christ had nails put through his hands. As we look at that
or as we bear that image in our minds that is really what the
Lord Jesus Christ is doing. He takes the hand of man on one
side and he takes the hand of God on the other side and he
becomes that intercessor, that mediator, the one who brings
two warring parties together to bring about a union. What was it that separated Adam
from God? It was his sin. What is it that
made Adam lost? It was his sin. What is it that
Jesus used, why Jesus used the illustration of the lost sheep
to show us of our lost condition? It is
our sin that causes us to be in that lost condition and so
Christ is able to put away sin by his death upon the cross and
he is the only one who is able to bring about that reconciliation. He's the only one who is able
because he is the God-man Christ Jesus. He is the only one good
enough for he was without sin. He's the only one with the ability
to absorb the wrath of God for the eternal sins of his people. by being God himself and so Christ
upon the cross with his arms stretched out as he cried out,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? God the Father punishing
his beloved son for the sins of his people and Christ on the
cross taking the hand of God, taking the hand of his sinful
people and bringing about that reconciliation. You may remember
a few weeks ago I spoke to you of a helicopter
maybe a month or so ago and with a helicopter You have
this bottom part here, which carries the people. And then
you have the blades here, which spin and which cause the helicopter
to go up and down, forwards and backwards, and left and right. When the helicopter comes out
of the factory, it is, we could say, perfect. It's able to do
what the pilot wants it to do. Just like Adam and Eve, they
were perfect. They were created for God's glory,
and yet they sinned. They sinned against God. With
this helicopter, there is one part what attaches these blades
to the body of the helicopter, and it is here, this pin. So Adam and Eve ended up being
like this. A helicopter without any blades. Useless. But God in his mercy provided
a way for that reconstruction of them. If you've been to car
shows you sometimes see people who take old cars and they do
them up, they fix them. And so God has done that with
the human race through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And just
like this helicopter is useless without its blades, God made
a way of making it useful. What holds these blades onto
this helicopter is that pin. And that pin is called a Jesus
nut. It holds the blades onto the
helicopter. And should that pin fail, it
is a catastrophic failure. Catastrophic means it's a catastrophe. It means if this pin fails while
the helicopter is flying, all those people in that helicopter,
they're going to die. Because the blades separate. And so what holds it together
is just this pin. just like the Lord Jesus Christ.
He holds all of his people together. He reconciles them to God. Some of these helicopters, I
think I told you, can weigh 40 tons. So you have the blades
wanting to go up and you have gravity pulling on the helicopter,
wanting it to go down. And all of that weight is pressured
there on that point, the Jesus nut. And I brought one. This is a
Jesus nut off a Merlin RAF helicopter. Who's strong? Jack? You see how heavy it is? It's very heavy and very strong. It weighs about 10 kilograms.
And should this fail, then the Merlin helicopter, which weighs
something like 15 tons, will crash to the ground. Just like
the Lord Jesus Christ holds it all together, holds his people
together, stands between God and man. As Adam was chased from
the presence of God, so the Lord Jesus Christ brings about that
reconciliation through his sacrifice on the cross and he holds the
hand of God and the hand of his people and he will not let them
go. They are united to God in Christ. Ephesians tells us that we are
made nigh, we are brought near by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Adam and Eve were stopped from
eating of the tree of life so that they would not live in sin
forever and ever. The Bible tells us that the Lord
Jesus Christ has prepared a place for his people. Those who are
found in him, those that have been brought into union with
him, that are being held together by him, will one day eat of the
tree of life in heaven. Revelation chapter 2. In verse 7 it says, He that hath
an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Unto him that overcometh I will give to eat of the tree of life
which is in the midst of the paradise of God. And so although there is that
sad story at the beginning of the Bible of that breakdown of
the relationship between God and man yet in the central message
of the whole of the scripture is this beautiful reconciliation
through the Lord Jesus Christ and this time that is going to
come when all of those who are in Christ Jesus will not suffer
the consequences for their sin but will be found in union with
Christ Jesus and that they will live with him forever and ever
and will be able to partake of the tree of life which is in
the midst of the paradise of God, the midst of heaven itself. And so Christ is the central
theme of the whole of the scriptures, right from the beginning all
the way to the end, this wonderful gospel message of reconciliation
which you children so beautifully quoted to us. May it be that
the Lord will show you that you are lost and that you may cry
out like that lost sheep. Cry out so that the master will
come and place you upon his shoulders and bring you into the sheepfold
of Christ. Remember in Kenya, I think I've
told you this before, of the boys when they went out into
the fields they would end up catapulting birds and they would
get distracted And then night time would come and they would
head home and they would sometimes forget their goats. And as night came those goats
would begin to bleat, begin to cry out. And the children's parents
would come and collect their goats in the dark. But those
goats, they realised something wasn't right. that they had been
left. And so they began to cry and
cry until the big shepherd came and rescued them. And so that's
what boys and girls need to do. They need to cry and cry to God,
to Christ, that he may come and save you from the consequences
of your sin. Yes, you are lost. The Bible
tells us that we are lost. But the Bible tells us that there
is reconciliation there is that bringing together by the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says I can do all things
through Christ that strengthens me. May the Lord add his blessing. Amen. So all the hymns today are the
ones children have been learning in Sunday school. Our closing
one is 83 from Hymns of Worship. When I survey the wondrous cross,
on which the Prince of Glory died, my riches gain I count
but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride. Hymn number 83
from Hymns of Worship, tune 398. I survey the wondrous cross,
on which the Prince of Glory died. My riches gained ? I can't have lost the book of
death ? ? On all my path ? ? No miracle that I should put
to rest ? save in the death of Christ my God. O love and faith that charm me
most, I sacrifice them to His He who on this earth his hands
displeased, Stronger than all, the being of God. Digness, laughter, and sorrow
meet, The fond compulsion, redemption, His lion prayers of night are
found, Spreads o'er his body on the tree. When am I dead? ? Till all the glade ? ? And
all the globe ? ? Is dented near ? ? For the whole world to see
? of age of life, that were a present for us this morn. The so amazing, so divine, demands
my soul. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
for the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Thee for the
perfect sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world. Lord,
we pray that Thy truth may enter into our hearts and be accompanied
by the power of Thy Holy Spirit, that it may bear fruit for Thy
honour and for Thy glory. Help us, Lord, we pray, to seek
and to find the Lord Jesus Christ and to be united with Him for
time and for eternity. Now, Lord, we pray we may be
dismissed with thy blessing. Do you remember Brother Keith
as he prepares for this evening service? We give thee thanks
for restoring me or helping me, Lord, to speak this morning. And now, may the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship
and communion of the Holy Spirit to be with you each now and forevermore. Amen.