Through the letter box, Worship Service, Sunday 24 May

Worship
If you are familiar with the melody of this hymn of worship to God, then please be at liberty to sing it. If not, then take time to ponder the great biblical truths the hymn expresses).

Here is love vast as the ocean,
Loving kindness as the flood,
When the Prince of life, our ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love cannot remember;
Who can cease to sing to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
Throughout heaven’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion
Fountains opened deep & wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast & gracious tide.
Grace & love, like mighty rivers
Poured incessant from above;
And heaven’s peace & perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.

Sermon on the Mat: Real & lasting security
‘I lift my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from?  Psalm 121:1.

At the beginning of this Psalm of ascent, David’s conscious attempt to look away from his immediate circumstances to the breathtaking landscape beyond him, prompts him to ask the question we’re all doubtless asking ourselves at this present time. Where does my help come from? i.e. Where can real & lasting security ultimately be found?

Can it be found in the things that we have?
Let us never be in any doubt that our material wants & needs really do matter to God. Just as David never found himself in a state of physical want because of the loving faithfulness of His God, neither, in practice, will we. That said, Scripture makes it very clear that faith in & reliance upon material things won’t, in the end, bring us the satisfaction we’re all so desperately in search of. Simply because they have no long term value! i.e. We can’t take them with us when we die, much as we’d sometimes like to think we can! If real & lasting security can’t be found in the things that we have,

Can it be found in the people that we know?
We’re none of us meant to be islands sufficient unto ourselves, are we? Which is why God graciously provides us with family & friends. Family & friends through whom His providential care & love for us is revealed. Jesus, Himself, drew real strength & encouragement from His motley & dishevelled band of followers, who accompanied Him through the thick & thin of His missionary travels. We don’t often think of Jesus finding solace in His disciples, but He most surely did. Which was why the kiss of the betrayer affected Him so deeply. Contrary to popular belief, Jesus feels the pain of rejection as much as we do! Perhaps even more so?!  See Luke 22:48.

As important & necessary as friendships & other meaningful relationships are to all of us, even this can’t adequately answer the question of where real & lasting security ultimately lies either, since it too will one day pass.

As David points in Psalm 121v2, real and lasting security can be found in one place & one place only – In the Lord, the Maker of heaven & earth.

The One who will not allow our feet to stumble.
At least not to the extent that there can never, under any circumstances, be a way back for us! A way out of the darkness. A way back to the place of restored hope, confidence & trust in Him.
Regardless of how far we have fallen God’s arms will always be long enough to reach down & save us.

The One who will keep us safe from harm.
Here’s how 2 Chronicles 16:9 puts it – ‘For the eyes of the Lord move to & fro throughout the earth so that He may support (protect) those whose heart is completely His.
No real or lasting harm can come to His beloved children, not while they’re under the auspices of His watchful care. He who is ever mindful of the sparrow & therefore, all the more, ever mindful of you.

The One who will see us safely through.
As I’ve been at pains to point out throughout the 30+ years that I’ve served as a full time Baptist Minister, that they don’t call Jesus Saviour for nothing!
As the One who is the same, yesterday, today & forever He has become the Saviour who has saved us, who is saving us & who one day will save us to His eternal glory. Where we’ll be with Him forever!
As someone once said, ‘He didn’t invite us into the boat with Him in order to let us drown in the middle of the lake!’

The psalmist invites us all today to look again to the Lord of Glory, the Maker of heaven & earth – & to keep on looking – & as we do so, to affirm afresh our trust & our confidence in His supreme ability to show us the way to everlasting happiness & everlasting security. In the sure & certain knowledge that His love cannot nor will ever fail us!

Prayer
Have no fear, Christ has overcome the world.
Have no doubt, He has promised to be with you.
Have no anxiety, He is Lord,
And we shall share His joy, His life, His love & His victory. Amen.

Please pray for –

• Pastors serving their churches & communities affected by COVID-19, that the Holy Spirit would give them the right words & right & appropriate actions for each situation.
• The body of Christ worldwide, that the church would continue to support the sick & their caregivers in practical and spiritual ways.
• Those waking up each day to the fallout caused by the virus, that they would reach out to the Lord in their hour of need & find Him to be true.