Transcription downloaded from https://archives.bafreechurch.org.uk/sermons/31559/psalm-27/.

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[0:00] Well, good evening, and I would like on behalf of the Lord's Day of Zevan Society to welcome you all here tonight, and I trust that we'll all know God's blessing.

[0:29] I would like to open our meeting tonight and let us sing to God's praise from Psalm 89, Psalm 89 from verse 13 to 18 to the tune Warwick, and we'll stand to sing.

[0:45] It reads from verse 13, Thou hast an arm that's full of power, thy hand is great in might, and thy right hand exceedingly exalted is in height. Justice and judgment of thy throne are made the dwelling place.

[1:00] Mercy accompanied with truth shall go before thy face. And we'll sing down to the end of verse marked 18 to God's praise. We'll stand to sing. Thou hast an arm that's full of power.

[1:12] Thou hast an arm that's full of power. Thou hast an arm that's full of power.

[1:24] Thy hand is great in might, and thy right hand exceedingly exalted is in height.

[1:42] Justice and judgment of thy throne are made the dwelling place.

[1:57] Mercy accompanied with truth shall go before thy face.

[2:11] O praise thee bless the people, O Lord, the joyful Son that know.

[2:24] In brightness of thy face, O Lord, they never will trouble.

[2:38] Then in thy name shall overdead, rejoice, exalted in me.

[2:52] And in thy righteousness shall they exalted be on high.

[3:06] Because the glory of their strength, O Lord, they never will trouble. Because the glory of their strength, O Lord, they never will trouble. Thou hast an arm that's full of power.

[3:18] Thou hast an arm that's full of power. And in thy favor shall the power and power exalted be.

[3:33] For God is our defense handy. To us, God's safety drain.

[3:48] The Holy One of Israel is our Almighty King.

[4:02] Please be seated. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Our gracious and eternal Father in heaven, we come before you at this time again tonight, and we do acknowledge the privilege that is ours of being able to gather in this place with your people.

[4:24] And we ask at the outset that we collectively and individually would know your presence with us. As your word has promised us that where your people are gathered, you will present yourself in their midst.

[4:42] We do ask for your presence here tonight. For again, we do realize that for whatever we may plan or try and do, unless it is done in your name and in your will, we might as well not be here.

[4:59] For it is nothing of ourselves, but it is all of you. And we thank you again afresh this night for the Lord Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, whom you gave to die on the cross at Calvary.

[5:17] To die for our sins in our place and in our stead. And to take upon himself all the pain and the suffering that our sin deserves. So that we, through faith in him, are able now to come this night anew and to call you our Father.

[5:39] And for that we are so grateful. And we do thank you again for each person who is gathered here tonight. We thank you of giving us the will and the desire to come along together.

[5:53] And to sing your praises and read your word. And to hear what your servant brings before us. We thank you for him. We thank you for giving him journeying mercies.

[6:05] And we thank you for enabling him to be with us here this night. We would again bring the association under which we meet this night before you.

[6:16] And we realize the darkness that is around us in this world day in, day out. Where we seemingly are swimming against the tide.

[6:29] And we thank you again tonight that we can only but look to your word. And be reminded that you are the one who is in control. And that one day you will come back victorious and reign over us.

[6:44] And we thank you for that blessed hope in which we have. We do ask Lord that you would enable us to clearly hear and understand your word this night.

[6:55] And that we wouldn't only be doers of your word or hearers of your word. But that we would be doers of it and act it out in our lives. And show it all around us to those in whom we come in contact with.

[7:09] We ask Lord that you would enable us to be witnesses for you.

[7:20] And enable us to stand up as shining lights for your cause. We ask now that you would go before us. Guide us and help us.

[7:31] And enable us to know that leading of your Holy Spirit in our midst. And these things we ask with the forgiveness of our sins in Jesus' precious name.

[7:42] Amen. I would once again like to welcome every one of you present here tonight.

[7:53] And thank you for taking the time to come along with us. Some of you may even ask, what is the LDOS, the Lord's Day Observance Society?

[8:04] Well, I would just like briefly to give you a rundown on it. It was formed in 1846. And its aim is to promote the use of the Lord's Day for rest, family life, worship.

[8:20] With a particular emphasis on the gospel and the grace of God. We are all only too aware on how the society, how society in which we live and find ourselves today has changed.

[8:34] But as we are told in Hebrews, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. And for that we must be thankful and grateful.

[8:46] The uniqueness of the Bible in this day that we find ourselves of multi-faith culture. And the challenge for each one of us, surely, in whatever way possible, is to communicate the gospel message to a largely non-Christian society.

[9:05] It was once said within this very building, you as a believer in the 21st century are possibly the nearest thing that many people around you will see of a Bible.

[9:24] If you live out your faith, that's what most people that you and I come in contact with will see of Christianity.

[9:35] The ignorance of the Bible today is frightening. The Scottish Association of the LDUS are meantime compiling a booklet, a gospel booklet.

[9:50] And their intention, I understand, in the millennium is to have this booklet distributed to all Scottish schools. So that's something for your prayers. They are also involved in the production of a new videotape to promote positive use of the Lord's Day.

[10:07] We realize and see it even within our own city. We needn't go any further than to see the abuse of the Lord's Day all around us.

[10:18] And it is the hope and the prayer of those members of the organization that in whatever small measure an influence can be brought on our society, especially in Scotland, the reality of the true and unchanging gospel can be brought before and to people, and trusting that the life-changing experience may be theirs.

[10:43] I'll close this passage with a text that was preached upon here not so long ago, and it's still everlasting in my mind, and I think very relevant to the cause of the LDUS.

[11:02] It's in Genesis chapter 18, verse 14. Is anything too hard for the Lord? And it is true, no matter how much we are swimming against the tide, nothing is too hard for the Lord.

[11:19] And our fervent prayer should be that He will, sooner rather than later, intervene. There will be an opportunity for tea and coffee down the stair after this meeting.

[11:34] Once you go out the door here, if we turn left and go down the stair into the hall, tea and coffee will be served there and it will be ready. And it will give you an opportunity to meet our speaker tonight, at which he has indicated to me he will be very happy to answer any questions you may have.

[11:49] And we can have a time of fellowship there. So please take your opportunity to come down the stair and participate there. It will also give you an opportunity to sign up if you wish to have any literature sent to you or support the association in any way.

[12:04] I would also like to take this opportunity of thanking our own minister here, the Reverend Ivor Martin, and the session for the use of the building here tonight, for which we are much appreciated.

[12:16] I would like to know if we could read together from the book of Psalms. And we will read from Psalm 27. Psalm 27 in the book of Psalms.

[12:31] And we will read the whole Psalm. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life.

[12:42] Of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.

[12:54] Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear. Though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to seek him in his temple.

[13:17] For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe. In his dwelling he will hide me. In the shelter of his tabernacle, and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me.

[13:31] At his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy. I will sing and make music to the Lord. Hear my voice when I call, O Lord. Be merciful to me and answer me.

[13:44] My heart says of you, seek his face. Your face, Lord, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me.

[13:55] Do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God, my Savior. Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.

[14:09] Teach me your way, O Lord. Lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes. For false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence.

[14:24] I am still confident of this. I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

[14:39] Amen. And may God add his own blessing to the reading of his own word. Now we're going to sing God's praise again. And during the singing of this psalm, I want you to remain seated because we are going to take up an offering tonight.

[14:55] And the offering will, in fact, be put towards the association and its workings there in what we can help with in any small way.

[15:07] So during the next singing, two gentlemen will take up the offering. And if you just remain seated, we'll sing together from Psalm 96, Psalm, Metrical Psalm number 96.

[15:22] And we'll sing from the beginning, from verse 1 onwards until the offering is, in fact, completed. Oh, sing a new song to the Lord. Sing all the earth to God.

[15:34] To God sing, bless his name. Show still his saving health abroad. Among the heathen nations his glory do declare. And unto all the people show his works that wondrous are.

[15:48] Psalm 96. Psalm 96. Oh, sing a new song to the Lord. And the tune is Pembroke. O sing a new song to the Lord.

[16:08] Sing all the earth to God. To God sing, bless his name. To God sing, bless his name.

[16:21] Show still his saving health abroad. His saving health abroad.

[16:36] Among the heathen nations his glory do declare.

[16:55] And unto all the people show his works that wondrous are. His works that wondrous are.

[17:10] His works that wondrous are. For great the Lord and greatly he is to be magnified.

[17:35] He is worthy to be feared in sea. Above all roads beside.

[17:50] Above all roads beside. Let us bow our heads in prayer.

[18:13] Amen. And gracious and eternal God we bring these gifts before you. And we do acknowledge that everything we have and possess is a gift from yourself. And we do ask now that we take these gifts and that you would cause them to be used to the glory of your name and to the furtherance of your cause.

[18:31] In Jesus name we ask. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Now comes the awkward bit for me because I feel it a great privilege to be given the opportunity of chairing this meeting tonight.

[18:46] And to be given the opportunity of introducing our speaker. And ever since I was asked to do this I have been in fear and trepidation of how I would tackle it.

[19:00] And lo and behold I bought a Scotsman yesterday and I found his face in the front page. So I felt very encouraged. And I felt more encouraged that he was there associated with rugby.

[19:13] And I thought well we've got something in common. But then as I read through the article and found that he was to be appointed into a review committee I think it was for the Scottish Rugby Association.

[19:29] And it very firmly and clearly pointed out that the only reason that was that he was independent and had no knowledge of rugby. So that was that out the window.

[19:41] It may be perhaps said that as a police sergeant in the Aberdeen Court Service I maybe have some association with him. But unfortunately I haven't even met him there either. Although I have met some of his fellow lords who come to our high courts.

[19:58] However it does I must emphasize give me a great pleasure to introduce to you tonight Lord James Mackay of Clashfern.

[20:10] He was born in Clashfern the northwest of Sutherland and began his studies I understand in mathematics. Eventually becoming a lecturer in that subject at St. Andrews University.

[20:23] He subsequently studied law. He subsequently studied law. Culminating in him becoming a Scottish judge. And then Dean of the Faculty in Edinburgh. And then Solicitor General for Scotland.

[20:36] And as many of you will be well aware I'm quite sure. He was eventually appointed Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom. In the 1980s and retired last year 1997.

[20:52] As well as a legal expert which he very well is known for. He is also well known in Christian circles. And for that we are eternally grateful of people of his stature.

[21:05] And involvement in our churches. Because I often feel it is a great benefit to have people in leadership. Who know the Lord Jesus Christ.

[21:17] And aren't shy to tell people that they know him as their savior. And we do welcome you here tonight Lord Bakay. And we would now like to hand over to you.

[21:28] And look forward to what the Lord has laid in your heart to bring to us. I have told the people that you have agreed. Without me bullying you into it. To answer some questions down the stair. And I'm sure people will take the opportunity.

[21:40] Thanks very much. Well thank you very much indeed. It's a great privilege and pleasure. To be back here. Once more. In Aberdeen.

[21:52] At this meeting. Of the Lord's Day. Observance Society. As our chairman has said. These are difficult times.

[22:05] For those who love the Lord. And for those who love the Lord's Day. I think that. There is.

[22:16] A great feeling. Amongst. Many of our fellow citizens. That we have come. A very long way.

[22:27] Over the years. That we have made. Great progress. In many fields of knowledge. That is certainly so.

[22:38] We have developed. Developed techniques. For health care. For example. Unknown. To our fathers.

[22:49] And the. Prosperity. The general health. Of the nation. And the tremendous advances.

[23:00] In scientific knowledge. In the information technology field. And in many others. Have been. Very great. And as we approach.

[23:12] The end of this millennium. And look back over the changes. That have come about in it. They surely are. Quite stupendous.

[23:23] The idea. The idea. That. Men. Could travel. To the moon. Or indeed. That men. Could travel. By air. Which is now.

[23:34] Such a common thing. It would be. Regarded. As. Altogether. Miraculous. Not. All that long. Ago. And yet. All this.

[23:45] We have achieved. And. These are. Things. At which. It is right. To marvel. And which. We should.

[23:56] Appreciate. But. With all that. Great. Progress. In scientific. Learning. And in. Other fields.

[24:08] The century. That. We are. Just about. To see. Close. Is a century.

[24:19] Unprecedented. In the amount. Of. Inhumanity. Shown. By. People. To one another. More. People.

[24:30] Have been. Destroyed. In war. In this century. Than. Before. And this. I think. Is proof.

[24:41] And there are many other. I mean. The cruelties. Perpetrated. By. Men. On men. And. Men. And women. In.

[24:52] This. Closing. This century. Now. Closing. Have been. Absolutely. Stupendous. So. Whatever. Progress.

[25:03] Has been. In. The way. Of. Knowledge. Of. Human. That. Are. Quite. Unchanged.

[25:14] And. Quite. Unaffected. By. These. Developments. The. Human. Being. Man. And.

[25:25] Woman. Are. In. Many. Ways. Just. Exactly. The. As. They. From.

[25:36] The. Earliest. Times. We. Are. Showing. To. One. Another. The. Kind.

[25:47] Of. Conduct. Which. Is. Really. Utterly. Deplorable. And. Which. No. One.

[25:58] Can. Find. It. Easy. To. Justify. It. Is. Apparent. That.

[26:09] Education. Development. Of. Learning. Discoveries. In. Science. In. Medicine. In. The.

[26:20] Art. That. All. Of. The. Fundamentals. A. Of. Human. Nature. And.

[26:31] Conduct. If. If. We. Are. To. Learn. Something. About. That. We.

[26:42] Are. Really. Wise. To. Go. Back. To. The. Book. Which. Has.

[26:53] Been. The. For. Many. Generations. Now. Many. Of. Us. Here.

[27:04] I'm. Sure. Have. Been. Taught. The. The. The. The. The. The.

[27:15] The. The. The. The. The. The. The. Pool. The.

[27:27] The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The.walli.

[27:38] The. 전� language. Three. The. The. The. Machine. The. The.The.

[27:49] Throl. ties in very well with our own experience. What the scripture says about our race is that we have fallen and that we are sinful.

[28:10] It tells us also how that can be judged. We are given by the scriptures the plainest, simplest standard of life, of human conduct that we could ask for.

[28:34] We are told to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind.

[28:46] And our neighbors as ourselves. Now we have spoken about the way in which many of our fellows during this century have treated their neighbors, those with whom they have come in contact.

[29:11] The sufferings of the concentration camps of Nazi Germany are perhaps the most dreadful indictment of that type of conduct that we can have.

[29:29] But this standard is not just for the people of Nazi Germany nor for other people in our own country.

[29:47] It is for ourselves. And I know of no better standard, no simpler standard, no clearer standard that one can find anywhere.

[30:03] And yet a standard that must command the ascent of every one of us. Who can say that these two commandments which are summaries of much more detailed command in our holy scriptures.

[30:24] That these two commandments are asking us for anything but what we ought to give. And it is by examining ourselves, judging ourselves by these standards that we see that although we can be appalled at what others have done, we have reason also to consider what we have done ourselves.

[31:00] And we have lived our lives with these standards and I fear and I speak for myself I have broken these standards time and time and time again.

[31:17] Now one of the other features of our human life is time. It has been discovered by the applied mathematicians that time is an important aspect of our physical existence.

[31:37] The space-time in which we live is an important aspect of our human existence. But the great thing about time for us humans is that once it has passed it is beyond recall.

[32:00] Once we have failed to observe these standards in one particular that is past and we can't take it back.

[32:11] However much you and I would like to take back things in the past of which we are ashamed. The nature of time is such that we can't take them back.

[32:26] Once it's past, it's past. You wish you had done something differently. You wish you hadn't said that. You wish you hadn't thought that. You wish you hadn't done that. But once it's thought, once it's said, once it's done, it is beyond recall.

[32:47] And there is also, as the scriptures make clear to us, in us a feeling, a sense of accountability.

[32:58] accountability. It may not be very active, it may not be very well informed, but it is there.

[33:10] And when we have done wrong, we have a sense that that is so, and that we deserve to be dealt with on account of that wrong.

[33:26] This is the sense of guilt for past wrongdoing. And that is a very fundamental characteristic of human beings, that they can have a sense of guilt, a sense of past wrong, wrongdoing.

[33:55] Not other people's wrongdoing, that's certainly quite easy to see and acknowledge, and we're often very good at that. But seeing our own guilt and wrongdoing is the fundamental matter.

[34:13] And the scriptures make plain to us, and I think it accords with the sense we have ourselves, that for that wrongdoing, we are accountable.

[34:25] people. I have read that the whole idea of our justice system, the whole idea of courts and judges, is a reflection in human society of the understanding that human beings have, that they are accountable to a greater judge than any human judge can be.

[34:52] God is our judge. And God is our judge with qualities that are required, expected, in human judges, like fairness, like a balance of the evidence which is fair to those who are accused.

[35:21] but the divine judge has at his disposal infinitely more reliable information about our conduct than any human tribunal can be privileged to have.

[35:40] As you know, the scriptures tell us, and our own laws reflect this, that out of the mouth of two or three witnesses shall everything be established.

[35:52] But God has the information directly because of his quality of omniscience. He knows it all, and therefore perfectly aware of all we have done.

[36:09] And this is the human condition. This is the situation that is true of every one of us, as the scriptures show us.

[36:21] And it is in that condition, and in that terrible situation, that the message of the gospel is addressed to each of us.

[36:36] Jesus came, not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

[36:47] And I think every one of us here must acknowledge, when we examine ourselves at all, by the standards of God's word, these two particular summary standards that I mentioned, that we are sinners, sinners, in a way that puts it quite beyond our own power to redress the situation or deliver us from the guilt which we have incurred.

[37:20] But this is the glorious, wonderful message of the everlasting gospel, that when there was no eye to pity us, nor arm to save us, of human eye or human arm, God brought salvation, and that he sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.

[37:51] This is the gospel that is so plainly and so clearly brought before us in the scriptures. scriptures. And we are all privileged to have these scriptures and to have that message.

[38:07] Now, we are told, and I needn't remind you of that in any great detail, how Jesus came to be the savior of lost and ruined sinners.

[38:21] He came by taking our sins upon himself. he was made sin, as the scripture says, so powerfully, so intensely.

[38:33] He was made sin, not a sinner. He was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

[38:48] In other words, we who have sinned so grievously, so often, through our lives, made the righteousness of God in him.

[39:02] And this enables the judge, the righteous judge, to say, I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins.

[39:17] And this is the message which is set before us, and before all to whom the word of the gospel comes, that we should receive it, that we should receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior.

[39:34] And experience in him freedom from the guilt that we have incurred, because he has borne the penalty which our sins deserve.

[39:48] And when he cried, as he did from Calvary's cross, these astonishing words, it is finished, before he bowed his head and yielded up his spirit to the Father, he was speaking of the guilt of the sins of all those who come to him in the fullness of time in response to his gracious call.

[40:15] call. Now, it is in this way the scriptures make clear to us that alone we can come to acknowledge him as our Lord.

[40:30] If we are left to ourselves, if we are outside his saving invitation, if we refuse his call, we are like the people who sent after the master, we will not have this man to rule over us.

[40:50] That is our language so long as we live rejecting Christ Jesus in the wonderful invitations of the gospel. We will not have this man, great man, wonderful, compassionate, holy, just, considerate, we will not have this man to reign over us.

[41:12] But when we do come to receive his gospel freely, without money, as Isaiah says, without money, and without price, then we come to acknowledge him as our Lord.

[41:30] And we know that when he had finished the work of Calvary's cross, and was laid by the loving hands of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus in the tomb, the tomb wherein never man before was laid, where they laid Jesus.

[41:53] When he was laid in the tomb, in accordance with the prophecies that had gone before in the Old Testament about him, he rose from the dead on the third day.

[42:05] That is to say, on the morning of the first day of the week, when you take account of the Jews' way of counting time. He rose from the dead on the first day of the week.

[42:22] And this is a central part of the gospel message, that Jesus died, died, but also that he rose again from the dead.

[42:42] And that was evidence of two things. First of all, it was evidence of his divine nature, that he was God the Son. And secondly, it was evidence that he had indeed finished the work, and that divine justice acknowledged that he had finished the work which had been given him by the Father to do.

[43:06] That is to say, to take away the guilt of his people's sins by his offering of himself, one perfect, complete, and wonderful sacrifice on Calvary's cross.

[43:23] To heaven. The disciples saw him. He led them out as far as to Bethany. Remember that wonderful village where he enjoyed so much fellowship in the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.

[43:38] He led them out, the disciples, after his resurrection, and after 40 days as far as to Bethany. And he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And as he blessed them, he was parted from them and received up into heaven.

[43:56] And it is that same Jesus whom we are promised will come again. at the end of time as the judge of all.

[44:07] We read that God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world by that man whom he hath ordained, even Jesus Christ. Now, when we think of him as the one who has done all this, he requires of us that we should yield to his authority.

[44:32] As the psalmist said in the psalm, he is thy Lord and worship thou him. So it is those who by grace have come to receive his salvation who come to acknowledge him freely, willingly, as their Lord.

[44:53] Lord. And this society, of which this is a meeting this evening, is the Lord's Day Observance Society.

[45:06] And the first aspect of that, we have to bear in mind, is the Lord. It is the Lord's Day, the day of the Lord, the day that belongs to the Lord, the day that belongs in a very special way to Jesus of Nazareth as our Lord.

[45:24] And it is the day that is a memorial to us of this most remarkable fact, that when he died, the grave could not hold him.

[45:38] The grave could not have a victory over him, but rather he got victory over the grave. And the Lord's Day is the day that is a memorial of Christ's rising from the dead.

[45:56] I think for us who are so familiar with these truths, we sometimes tend to underestimate the tremendous nature of the message and the impact that message had when it was delivered, that Christ had risen from the dead.

[46:17] as the angel said, he is not here, he is risen. Come see the place where the Lord lay.

[46:28] Now that was the message that transformed the small band of dispirited disciples, of those who had been altogether cast, who had been altogether cast down by his death, it was that message that transformed them by the blessing of his Holy Spirit into a band of witnesses that carried the message of the gospel so rapidly after his resurrection over the whole of the known world.

[47:07] What a transforming power that message had, and of course it has a transforming power still where it is received and believed.

[47:18] And may God grant to each of us that we may truly, fully, and completely receive this message of Christ's resurrection from the dead, and that he is our Lord, and that he is worthy, utterly worthy, of all our love, affection, service, and witness for so long as we are left in this world.

[47:43] ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord. His people, those who have received him as their savior, they are his witnesses in this world.

[47:56] And this day, the Lord's day, that is a commemoration, memorial of his rising from the dead, is given as the Sabbath was from the beginning, as a day of rest.

[48:14] We read right at the beginning of the scriptures, when the creation of the world was finished, on the seventh day, God rested from his labor.

[48:28] And the seventh day became a fundamental part of the Old Testament system. And you remember that seven was also used for the year of jubilee.

[48:41] When seven sets of seven years had passed, there was the year of jubilee and deliverance. Well, when Christ came and rose from the dead, that day of rest became in the Christian church the day on which that holy rest was enjoyed.

[49:03] and this is the privilege of the Lord's Day. Often, you hear descriptions of the Lord's Day given to us as if it was a day of burden, some tremendous observances that were a heavy burden on people.

[49:24] And you may have heard descriptions of the Lord's Day as it was observed in our country in days past, suggesting that people used to put down the blinds and all that kind of thing.

[49:36] Well, I certainly never experienced anything like that. I don't know whether you did, but certainly I never experienced anything like that. On the other hand, I did experience, and I believe it is right that we should experience, that the Lord's Day is a day when we are enabled, for the most part, to rest from the ordinary activities of every other day.

[50:00] It doesn't happen to everyone. There are people who have to carry out responsibilities on the Lord's Day. But the Lord's Day is a day for spiritual pleasure, for spiritual delight, for taking an interest in a special way, free from other encumbrances in what Christ is and what he has done.

[50:23] It is his day, and for his people who have been brought to know the deliverance by him from their guilt, it should be a pleasure to think over what he has done, pleasure to read his word, a pleasure to hear him spoken of, pleasure to join together in Christian fellowship and worship.

[50:43] This is the purpose of the Lord's Day, and it is not an observance in a burdensome way, it is an outlet, an opportunity for worship and service, which comes naturally to those who have received his grace.

[51:02] And surely, we should do all in our power to preserve that opportunity for ourselves and all those for whom we are interested.

[51:14] It is a shame that people are prevented from enjoying the blessing of freedom from work in order to worship Jesus.

[51:28] It is not a privilege to have extra work. It is not a privilege to have no Sabbath, no rest. And after all, in the letter to the Hebrews, the promise of heaven is spoken of to Christ's children as an eternal or everlasting Sabbath of rest.

[51:50] A rest, they shall rest from their labor, for their works do follow them. A rest which is not just sleep, but a rest which has a content, an encouragement, an enjoyment, a stimulation, a purpose.

[52:11] Now, the Lord's Day Observance Society, as our chairman reminded us, was set up in order to encourage that observance and the preservation of that privilege for ourselves and our fellow citizens.

[52:26] One of the difficulties of the system under which we live is that we are indebted for our laws to Parliament.

[52:39] And when it comes to matters such as the Lord's Day, we are dependent upon the views of the individual members who make up that legislature, because these matters of conscience are not normally matters which are ruled by the doctrines of loyalty to the party, which do apply to the ordinary things of politics, like the way in which the economy is to be dealt with and so on.

[53:13] And therefore, it is in Parliament the usual rule that when matters of that kind are brought up, they are subject to a free vote. And the decisions about what the law is to be are determined in accordance with that free vote.

[53:32] Now, this brings me to mention the important obligation that Christians have to pray for kings and for all that are in authority.

[53:45] And in our context today, that means those who represent us in Parliament. We are very ready, as I said earlier, to find fault with other people, less ready, usually, to find fault with ourselves.

[54:03] But when it comes to looking at how Parliament is acting, we have to think, have we been praying for our members of Parliament as we are in duty bound to do?

[54:16] And we certainly should. It is an arduous responsibility. And we should seek that those who carry it are enlightened and guided by the Holy Spirit in their actions.

[54:29] And seek, of course, to pray in the Holy Spirit for them and for all others in authority. Because it is only when they act in accordance with the principles for which we should pray, that we will lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

[54:55] That is the reward that is promised in the scriptures for praying in this way, that we may lead such a life. And therefore, we are encouraged, we are encouraged very much, to pray for our legislators that they will be guided to preserve for us these privileges which are very important privileges and fundamental privileges for each of us.

[55:25] I hope that as this is done, the life of our nation and the laws which regulate our lives will conform more and more to the laws, the commandments which Christ has laid down for us and which he has summarized in the two commandments which I have mentioned.

[55:52] His commandments are not grievous, they're not intended as restrictions at all. The commandments of God are not intended as restrictions as if we are being kept from enjoying something by these commandments.

[56:07] That is not the idea. On the contrary, these commandments are given us as a law of liberty, as a law to preserve our liberty so that we will feel free, feel free to do what is right, feel free from damage inflicted on us by others, feel free from damage principally inflicted on us by ourselves.

[56:31] These are laws of liberty. They are laws laid down by the one who made us, who knows best how we function, how best we shall be happy. They are laws laid down for our enjoyment and that we may enjoy God who made us.

[56:49] He made us to enjoy his fellowship and he made us to give him glory. And one of the ways in which we give him glory is by honoring him in worship of him and in living for him.

[57:03] And one aspect of that, living for him and worshiping of him is a proper observance of the Lord's day. May God grant to each of us that we have that spirit of union with Christ Jesus which makes him and all he is precious to us and makes the day which is called by his name precious to us also.

[57:27] Thank you very much. Thanks very much Lord Mackay and we are indebted for your time and address to us.

[57:39] I would just remind you again that tea and coffee will be served down the stair and it will give you an opportunity to meet our speaker tonight and any questions you may have for him he has certainly assured me he will attempt to answer them and we would welcome you down there.

[57:54] We will bring our meeting to a close now singing from Psalm, Medical Psalm 148, that is the second version, Medical Psalm number 148 and we will sing to the tune St.

[58:09] John after which Lord Mackay will close the meeting in prayer and we will stand for this singing. The Lord of heavens confess on high his glory raise him let all angels bless him all his armies praise him glorify sun moon and stars ye higher spheres and cloud and sky.

[58:32] We will stand and we will sing the whole psalm to God's praise the Lord of heaven confess. The Lord of heaven confess on high his glory raise praise the glory raise him let all angels bless him all his armies praise may glory find some moon and stars be high as fear and cloud in sky.

[59:17] from all your feelings are in their for fame must make your old created word when he the word must pay and from that which prayer fixed you'll be by his decree you cannot pass praise all from earth below he dragons and he dees fire hill clouds wind and snow whom in chrome and he keeps praise he his love and tongue he smile and tame all things that creep are fly he kings he bow her throne all princes mean or high both men and virgins young he young and old exalt his name for much his fame should be extolled oh let

[61:08] God's name be praised above both earth and sky for he is saints the praise and set their horn on high he goes at feet of Israel's race near to his grace the Lord praise he oh Lord grant thy blessing on our meeting here together this evening grant that each of us may know the wonder of thy grace may we know what it is to have our sins forgiven through the finished work of Jesus

[62:08] Christ as the great high priest of our profession and may we know as individuals that he is risen from the dead and that he is ascended up to the heavenly places there to appear in the presence of God for us and may we have him this night as our intercessor within the veil at thy right hand whether he is for us in turn grant to bless each of us and bless our nation bless our queen and her family and all in authority under her who seek to discharge their responsibilities for the benefit of our nation grant to remember those in positions of responsibility in the other nations of the world remember the places and there are so many of them where violence and war and killing is taking place that thou wouldst be pleased in thy mercy to bring a righteous peace in these places we remember particularly tonight

[63:25] Northern Ireland that thou wouldst bring a lasting righteous peace in that province and remember the situation in the Middle East and also in the former Eukeslavia and in the many other places where there are troubles grant us a praying spirit may the Holy Spirit be with each of us and give us that desire to serve thee so long as we are in this world which would be honoring to thee in our lives bless us and pardon us for Jesus sake Amen God Comease to do God for that to the may be God

[64:29] He God Thank you.