Psalm 97

Okay, well, if you have your Bible, it would be great to have it open, Psalm 97.

I found this Bible on the pew.

I don't know if it's the church Bible, but it's on page 603.

If you happen to have a Bible that looks a little like this one,

and that would be great to have that open before you.

Psalm 97, beginning at verse 1.

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad.

Let the distant shores rejoice.

Clouds in thick darkness surround him.

Righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne.

Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side.

His lightning lights up the world.

The earth sees and trembles.

The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.

The heavens proclaim his righteousness and all peoples see his glory.

All who worship images are put to shame.

Those who boast in idols worship him, all you gods.

Zion hears and rejoices, and the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments, O Lord.

For you, O Lord, are the most high over all the earth.

You are exalted far above all gods.

Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.

Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.

Let's pray together.

O gracious God and Father, we thank you that you are the most high over all the earth.

That the heavens proclaim your righteousness and all peoples will one day see your glory.

And as we come now to your word, Lord, we pray that we would have a glimpse of that glory.

You would show us something of the eternal things which are to come.

That you would quieten our hearts, you would humble our spirits.

And that by your Holy Spirit, you would speak to us and into our lives now.

That we might see your face.

We might love you more.

And we might live for that glory.

And we ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, let me thank you again for the invitation to come this morning.

It's always a joy to come to Brunsfield.

And when I realized there was a church lunch, my joy increased all the more.

And I've invited myself to lunch.

And Graham has very kindly accepted that invitation.

And I hope to spend some time with you after.

As I mentioned, this psalm was brought home to me in a very vivid way,

listening to that song, Let It Rain, by Michael W. Smith.

And it's just a wonderful psalm, isn't it?

That speaks of God, our God, who is exalted above all the so-called gods of the world.

One of the highlights, I suppose, of the summer, one of the images that will remain with us,

is the sight of the French national team driving up the Champs-Élysées in their open-top bus,

going up to the Élysées Palace.

The French planes flying overhead with the tricolor.

And it was just a wonderful scene, wasn't it?

Especially if you're, I suppose, a French football fan.

And the French team celebrating their victory in the World Cup, just as well for them.

Scotland didn't qualify.

But they were the champions.

They were exalted over all the other teams.

And those in France, the people gathered in Paris that day, celebrating their triumph.

But, of course, as they celebrated, there were many who grieved, who mourned,

who were disconsolate, people whose nations didn't win,

who might have been knocked out in the first round, maybe even the semifinals.

It was a sad day, wasn't it, for many.

And that was true in our house.

We have a little competition, these events where everybody picks a team,

and we follow that team's progress.

My seven-year-old daughter, Anna, picked France.

And her dad picked Croatia.

And while she was rejoicing, I, of course, was greatly distressed.

But that's what we see in Psalm 97.

We see God triumphing, God exalted over all the so-called gods of the earth.

And verse 7, those who worship idols being put to shame, sorrow, remorse,

that they were on the losing side.

They picked the wrong team.

That's what we want to think about today, the greatness of God over his earth,

over all the so-called gods.

And to do that, I just want to understand a little bit of the context.

I believe you've been looking at these psalms over the past few weeks,

really from Psalm 90 through to Psalm 97 today.

And as you've been reading these psalms,

you'll have seen certain themes which recur.

There is the idea that God is the creator.

He is the king and the ruler of the heavens and the earth.

Psalm 95 says this,

The Lord is the great God, the great king above all gods.

In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.

This sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

He is a great king, for he created this world.

And as the creator, he rules this world.

Psalm 96 verse 10,

Psalms 96:10

Say among the nations, the Lord reigns.

The world is firmly established.

It cannot be moved.

He will judge the peoples with equity.

And the psalms speak about God as the righteous judge,

the one who will draw history to a close,

who will right all wrongs.

It's Psalm 96.

Let the sea resound and everything in it,

the world and all who live in it.

Let the rivers clap their hands,

the mountains sing for joy.

For the Lord comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness,

and the peoples with equity.

God is the king.

He is the ruler.

He is the judge, and the judge who judges in righteousness.

Psalm 99 verse 4,

Psalms 99:4

The king is mighty.

He loves justice.

You have established equity in Jacob.

You have done what is just and right.

And so our psalm begins by looking at these great themes

and saying, verse 1,

The Lord reigns.

Let the earth be glad.

Let the distant shores rejoice.

This is cause for rejoicing,

that our God is a king,

that he reigns over the whole earth,

that he is the one who made it,

and he is the one who will one day judge it

and root out sin and evil and wickedness.

And that is rejoicing, isn't it,

for us too in our lives.

It was lovely to hear our brother Tim's testimony

that God is in control.

I remember interreeling once around,

ironically, Croatia.

That's not why I picked the team.

It was just a sheer coincidence.

But I was interreeling around once,

and I ended up in a Baptist church on Sunday

with some Americans,

and we went for a lunch,

another church lunch.

There seems to be a pattern emerging here.

And I was sitting talking to one of them,

and I said,

well, tell me, brother,

what are you doing tomorrow?

And he said,

well, I work as a policeman for the United Nations,

and tomorrow I have to go and arrest

an armed war criminal

who's locked in a hotel,

and he says he's not coming out alive.

And I said,

how do you as a Christian

approach these situations?

And he said to me,

my God is bigger than that situation.

Now, I don't know what your Monday morning

has in store,

but Psalm 97 verse 1

Psalms 97:1

tells us that the Lord reigns,

and so we can rejoice.

And we can rejoice when there is talk

on the news, isn't there,

of food and medicine being stockpiled

in anticipation of a no-deal Brexit next year.

We can rejoice when there is talk

of a new Cold War

as sanctions bounce back and forth

across the Atlantic.

We can rejoice because,

as Psalm 97 verse 10 tells us,

Psalms 97:10

that those who love the Lord hate evil,

for he guards the lives

of his faithful ones

and delivers them from the hand

of the wicked.

There is a higher throne

than all this world has known.

The Lord reigns,

and so we can rejoice.

And what the psalmist does now

from verse 2 down to verse 9

is he takes up this idea

of the Lord,

the righteous judge,

coming in judgment,

and he portrays for us

this very vivid scene.

It's an image we've seen in Psalm 96.

It's an image you'll see,

I guess, next week in Psalm 98.

And in both of those psalms,

the image is one of joy.

We have this wonderful language,

trees of the forest singing for joy.

We have the rivers clapping their hands.

And yet in Psalm 97,

it is a scene both of joy,

but also of terror,

as the awesome God

is revealed to his world.

We see that, don't we,

in the descriptions in verse 2

down to verse 6,

these descriptions of natural phenomena.

Verse 2, we're told,

clouds and thick darkness surround him.

Though it was a little bit cloudy

this morning, wasn't it,

when we woke up

and there was a bit of a har.

I lived next to Arthur's seat

and it was obscured by cloud,

but he's not talking about

a few pleasant little clouds

and a little bit of mist.

This is impenetrable cloud,

cloud in which you cannot see

your hand before your face

and thick darkness.

And again, he's not talking about

a pleasant evening under the stars

with your friends looking up

and looking at the Milky Way.

He's talking about the kind of darkness

those boys in Thailand experienced

when for over a week

they were in a cave

in which there was absolutely

no light,

complete and utter darkness.

Verse 3, we're told of fire

going before him.

I was at a wedding last week

and it was nice to have

these fire pits at night

and as you sat down

for the reception,

you were given a bag of marshmallows.

And I thought, well,

that's a rather interesting

wedding breakfast,

but maybe there's more to come.

And my wife explained

it was for after the meal

and you took them outside

and you toasted the marshmallows

and it was a lovely thing to do.

It isn't that kind of fire.

This is the awesome fire

of God's judgment.

This is the fire you see in Greece

burning like a wildfire.

As lightning lights up the world again,

it's impressive lightning,

isn't it?

Thunder and lightning,

particularly if you're inside

on a rainy night.

Not so impressive

if like a friend of mine,

you're in an aeroplane

and the lightning begins

to strike the wings.

Terrifying, awesome.

And the mountains melting

like wax before the Lord,

before the Lord of all the earth.

So we have this scene

and it is a terrifying scene

of the whole earth convulsing,

the whole earth preparing

for the arrival of the righteous judge.

And it is an awesome sight.

And of course,

it brings to mind

a scene from earlier in Scripture.

If you turn back in your minds

to the life of Moses,

you remember Moses

as he met God

in the fire of the bush.

And the Lord used Moses

to deliver his people

from their enemies in Egypt.

And after the Passover,

the Lord went before them

in a pillar of cloud by day

and a pillar of fire by night.

And the Lord led them

through the wilderness.

And he brought them to Sinai,

to Horeb,

the mountain of God.

And when he brought them there,

the Lord appeared to them

in cloud and in fire.

Listen to the description

in Exodus chapter 19.

Exodus 19 · chapter mention

Mount Sinai was covered with smoke

because the Lord descended on it

in fire.

The smoke billowed up from it

like smoke from a furnace

and the whole mountain

trembled violently.

As the sound of the trumpet

grew louder and louder,

Moses spoke

and the voice of God

answered him.

The Lord descended

to the top of Sinai

and Moses went

to the top of the mountain.

When the people saw

the thunder and lightning

and heard the trumpet

and saw the mountain in smoke,

they trembled in fear

and stayed at a distance.

What happened in that scene

is that God

presenced himself

among his people

in cloud and in fire

and the mountain shook

and the lightning struck

and it was a terrifying scene.

And they were afraid

of the Lord.

Afraid of his power.

Afraid of his purity.

Remembering that righteousness

and justice

are the foundation

of his throne.

He is the holy God

and he taught them

that he is the only God

as he gave them

the commandments

instructing them

to have no gods

except him.

We've been singing

these wonderful songs

this morning,

haven't we,

about God

in his glory,

God

in his exaltation.

Our God

is an awesome God.

We didn't sing that one

but it came into my mind

and the psalmist

wants us to recognize

that our God

is an awesome God.

And sometimes,

of course,

we can forget that

in our Christian thinking

and perhaps even

in our evangelism.

As Christians,

we have the great joy

of being children

of the living God

through our faith

in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we rejoice

and speak rightly

of the fatherhood

of God.

And as believers,

we know what it means

to have friendship

with God.

Romans chapter 4

Romans 4 · chapter mention

speaks about Abraham,

the friend of God.

And though once

we were enemies,

we are now reconciled

to God

and are friends.

We rejoice

in the fatherhood of God.

We rejoice

in our friendship

with God

but we can perhaps

neglect to speak

of the fear

of God.

Of course,

a former generation

spoke of this

perhaps too much

but we're in danger,

I think,

of losing this idea

of the fear

of God.

I was reminded

of it the other day

just in the central library

as you go down the stairs

to the art library

and there's that

lovely tiled

frieze

and it has certain

verses from the

book of Proverbs

and the first

quote it has

is Proverbs 1

Proverbs 1:7

verse 7

the fear of the Lord

is the beginning

of wisdom.

Interestingly,

apparently that's

the motto

of Aberdeen University.

Well,

in our generation

we always run

the danger,

don't we,

of forgetting

about the fear

of God.

Craig Bartholomew,

the Bible scholar

defines it like this,

to fear Yahweh

is to sense

his power

and holiness

and yet at the same

time to embrace

him in love

and obedience.

We are in danger

of making God

as David Wells,

the author says,

weightless.

This is what he writes

in his very helpful book

No Place for Truth.

It is one of the

defining marks

of our time

that God

is now weightless.

I do not mean

that he is ethereal

but rather he has

become unimportant.

He rests upon

the world

so inconsequentially

as not to be noticeable.

He commands

less authority

than their appetites

for affluence

and influence.

He is less interesting

than television.

His judgments

are no more awe-inspiring

than the evening news

and his truth

is less compelling

than the advertiser's

sweet fog

of flattery

and lies.

That,

says David Wells,

is weightless

because we have lost

the fear

of God

to sense

the power

and holiness

and yet at the same time

to embrace him

in love

and obedience.

And I find here

an analogy

with the sea

quite helpful.

We holidayed

at the start

of July

in Dornach,

around Dornach

and we had a lovely day

at the beach

and we took the children

down to the sea

with the buckets

and the spades

and we played

in the water

and we looked at jellyfish

and we had a lovely day.

But at the end of that week

I visited some friends

in Oban

and one of the friends

had organised

a boat trip

on a speedboat,

a rib.

If you're familiar

with that sort of boat,

I wasn't

and I'm not very much

familiar with it now actually

but it was very fascinating

and it was very exciting.

But before we got on it

we were given

waterproof suits,

we were given

life jackets,

we were given instructions

about what we should

and shouldn't do

and then we sailed out

into the Atlantic

and the pilot of the ship

said we're now going to go

and we're going to sail past,

sail over,

in fact,

the third biggest whirlpool

in the world,

I think it was called

the Korovaque Ridge

and I questioned in my head

whether that was

a very good idea

but we got there

and there was no whirlpool

and I breathed a sigh of relief

and then he said,

well,

we'll try and start it ourselves

and he circled round and round

and created these giant waves

and lo and behold

the whirlpool appeared.

But it was quite a different experience,

wasn't it?

Playing on the beach

in Dornoch with the children

and then sailing out

into the Atlantic

and trying to raise

a giant whirlpool

from the ocean floor.

We love the sea

and we play with the sea

and we delight in the sea

and yet we fear

and respect the sea

and you don't trifle

with the sea,

you don't mess around

with the Korovaque whirlpool.

And so it is with God,

we can fear the Lord,

we can sense his power

and holiness

and yet at the same time

embrace him in love

and obedience.

As Christians,

we perhaps take ourselves

a little bit too seriously

but we can never take God

too seriously.

And we need to examine our lives

and think,

do we manifest the fear of God

in our worship?

Are we more interested

in the screens on our phone

than the pages of Scripture?

Do we neglect prayer

trusting that everything

is by grace

and the Lord knows

in advance what we need

before we ask it

and so we forget to pray?

Or we leave prayer

to the very end of the day

when we've done everything

that's important to us

and we squeeze in a few words

before we fall asleep

on the pillow?

Do we make time

for the Lord

or do we,

as one man said to me

this week when I invited him

to church,

I'll come if I have time.

Do we wait and see

if we get a better invitation

on a Sunday morning?

Or do we honour the Lord

with the firstfruits

of all that we have?

It's very easy, isn't it,

to forget

as we rejoice

in the fatherhood of God

and the friendship of God

to remember the fear

of the Lord

which is the beginning

of wisdom.

But of course

when Scripture speaks

of the fear of the Lord

it doesn't mean

that we have confidence

to approach God.

On the contrary,

we are invited

into his royal courts.

We are invited

to come before

this throne of grace.

The New Testament

says that we come

with confidence

and with boldness.

We come,

as the song says,

as guests invited.

And we must remember,

therefore,

when we come to God

to pray

as we are commanded

and invited to do so

before whom we come.

I enjoy our little time

with the children

at night before bed

and we say our prayers

and we just think

about things

we want to give thanks for

and to pray for

from the day.

And it's lovely

when young children,

our children are primary age

and some of the things

they pray for

are very sweet.

They might pray,

for example,

that their teddy bears

will sleep well

or after a trip to the zoo

they might give thanks

for the penguins.

Just sort of little

sweet prayers

of course,

they pray for other things

and it's right to encourage them

and it's lovely to hear

the young voices praying

but some of the things

they pray well,

they bring a smile

to my face

and I'm sure

they bring a smile

to the angels in heaven as well.

We must encourage them

in all of their prayers.

But I suppose the problem is

when a child becomes an adult

and when the mature Christian

gets down to pray,

whether our prayers

are of the same type,

whether we're just so concerned

with small things

in close proximity

to our lives,

Lord, help me get a parking space

when I go shopping.

Help me to recover

from this cold

before the weekend.

May we have good weather

on our family holiday.

I trust the interview goes well,

that the kitchen engineer

will come and repair

the washing machine quickly.

I mean,

these are nice prayers,

they're important prayers,

they're prayers that

perhaps we should pray

but if that's the end

of your prayer life,

then there's an issue.

If all we are praying for

as the Lord will help us

in our daily lives,

it's right for that

that may be the beginning

of our prayer lives

but not the end.

John Newton in his,

one of his hymns says this,

you are coming to a king,

great petitions with you.

Bring,

we need to be ambitious

for Christ in our generation

and in our prayer lives.

There is nothing

the Lord cannot do,

there is no one

he cannot reach

by his grace.

On Friday,

I had lunch with an American

who works for an international

mission organization

and he told me of a story.

They were given a house

on an island

in New York State.

It was a Christian couple

and when they passed away,

they left the house

in the will

to this Christian organization

and it's a beautiful island

and they run

a Bible college there

but it was just spoiled

because as you got on the island,

there was a big inn

where wealthy New York residents

would come at the weekend

and there would be drunkenness

and all kinds of misbehavior.

And you'd be sitting

in the Bible college

and you'd see this

and you'd hear this

and the people there

running the Bible college

thought,

well,

we need to pray about this

and so they began to pray.

The Lord would do something

and one day,

the director of the Bible college

after a time of prayer said,

I'm just going to go

and speak to them

and he walked across the island

and he got to the inn

and the manager was in a bad mood

and he said,

what do you want?

And he said,

well,

I'd like to buy the inn

and the manager said,

well,

that's incredible

because this morning

I woke up

and I'm so fed up

with running this place.

I said,

if somebody walks in here now

and offers to buy it,

I'll give it to them for free.

And the inn is now

part of the Bible complex.

You are coming to a king,

great petitions with you bring.

We need to be ambitious

praying about our own lives

but remembering we worship a God

whose heavens proclaim his righteousness,

who sits upon the throne of the universe.

F.B. Meyer says this,

you do not test the resources of God

until you attempt the impossible.

Andrew Murray,

the theologian,

not the tennis player,

says this,

beware in your prayers

above everything else

of limiting God,

not only by unbelief

but by fancying

that you know what he can do.

Expect unexpected things

above all that we can ask

or imagine.

Psalm 97,

Psalms 97:2–9

verse 2 to 9

reminds us that we have

an awesome God,

a God whose glory

is far above the heavens

and yet a God,

verse 10,

who guards the lives

of his faithful ones

and who sheds light

upon the righteous

and pours joy

into the heart

of the upright.

And that is great cause,

isn't it,

for rejoicing.

The psalm goes on

to tell us

that not everybody rejoices

in the Lord.

You've noticed

as we've read through

there are really two categories

of people in this psalm.

There are those

who are introduced to us

as the worshippers

of idols.

And then there are those,

verse 8,

who are the worshippers

of the Lord.

And on the day

of the Lord's appearing,

there are two

very different responses.

There is the response,

verse 7,

of those who worship idols

and they will be put to shame.

All peoples will see

God's glory

and they will be put

to shame.

However great the throngs

which worshipped with them,

however marvellous

their temples,

however ancient

their traditions,

they will be exposed

as having been worshipping

created things

rather than the Creator.

And they will be put to shame

that their worship

and their service

were misdirected,

that they supported Croatia

instead of supporting France.

There is a danger

that we can invest our lives

in the wrong things.

We can invest them

so thoroughly

in making names

for ourselves

and making fame

for ourselves

in our career

or academic success

in our relationships

that there is no space

or place for God.

and that at the end

of our lives

or when the Lord returns

we will be put to shame

because we invested

too much

in the wrong places

and we forgot

the primary thing

to seek first

His kingdom

and His righteousness.

When the glory of God

is revealed

among His people

we will be put to shame.

There are those

who worship idols

but there are also

those in this category

who oppose

the true worship

of God.

Verse 3

Fire goes before Him

and consumes His foes

on every side.

In every time

in every generation

there are people

who oppose

the worship

of the one

true and living God.

We see that periodically

don't we?

In Scotland

one of the stories

over the summer

was the humanists

I believe

who were complaining

that you find crosses

in crematoria

and they argue

that because

less than 50%

of people in Scotland

now identify as Christian

this might cause distress

or offence

to non-religious people

using the crematoria

for their funerals.

Paul wrote,

didn't it,

in the first century

there were enemies

of the cross of Christ

and it seems

in the 21st century

the offence

of the cross

is still an issue.

So there is

mild opposition

in Scotland

but of course

we are living through

one of the worst

persecutions

of the modern age

the persecution

of Christians

in the Middle East

in Iraq

and of Syria

and we know

there are enemies

of God

enemies of the cross

who oppose

the true worship

of the one

true God.

Psalm 97 says

they will be consumed

on every side.

So on the day

of the Lord's appearing

there will be those

who are put to shame

and yet

the Psalm

goes on to say

there are many

who will rejoice

verse 8

Zion hears

and rejoices

the villages

of Judah

are glad

because of your

judgments

O Lord.

The Lord's people

will be delivered

from the hand

of the wicked.

The Lord's people

will be vindicated

for their faith

in him

when he is revealed

as the one

exalted

far above

all gods.

They will be rescued

and they will be

rewarded

for their faithfulness.

Isaiah 25

has the people

of God

saying

this is our God

we waited

on him

and he

saved us.

Maybe you're here

today

and you're coming

under pressure

because of your

Christian life

and your Christian

testimony.

Maybe you are

thinking

it would be easier

just to give up

and to follow

the crowd

and to do things

just the same

as everybody else.

It would be so much

easier just to fit in

and accommodate

to the standards

of this age.

People maybe say to you

why do you spend

all that time in church

when you could be away

every weekend

you could take your boat

round the Koravaki Ridge

off the west coast.

Why do you give up

your evenings

to go to the Christian

Union at university

and get involved

in those lunch bars

and those outreach events?

Why do you spend

so much time

and give so much money

to that church

in Brunsfield?

Why do you experience

such mocking

and ridicule

from your friends

or from your colleagues?

Life would be

so much easier

if you just went

the same way

as everyone else.

Well,

Psalm 97 verse 8

Psalms 97:8

tells us

there is a day

when we will rejoice

and be glad

because of the judgments

of the Lord.

All the earth

will see his glory

and we will know

that we supported

the right team

that our hope

and our confidence

were in the right place

and we had faith

in the one true

and living God.

This is our God.

We waited on him

and he saved us.

So the psalmist

describes the coming

of God in judgment

and it depicts

these two camps

those who worship

other gods

so called

or oppose

the true worship

of God

they will be put

to shame

they will experience

that judgment

and yet the Lord's people

those who kept faith

who waited upon him

who lived

in the light

of his coming

will be rewarded

and vindicated

and saved.

And these two themes

of the Lord's enemies

being judged

and the Lord's people

being saved

run all the way

through scripture.

We see it

don't we

at the story of Noah.

We see it

as we've mentioned

in the story

of the Exodus

as the people

of Israel

were delivered

and the armies

of Egypt

were judged.

And we see it

of course

in the New Testament

and if you have

your Bible before you

if you could perhaps

open to the page

on which we have

Thessalonians 4

again in my Bible

it's page 1188

but we want just

to look at two passages

in this book.

Thessalonica

is the city

in Greece

it's a very

attractive

seaside town

and Paul

you recall

went there

in Acts

he preached

all around

the Mediterranean

and as he got

to Thessalonica

he experienced

some of that

opposition

and this mob

it brought him

to the court

and said

this man

is preaching

he's defying

Caesar's decrees

because he says

there is another

king

one called

Jesus.

we've been

thinking

haven't we

in the

psalm

of a great

king

who comes

in cloud

and who

comes in fire

to judge

and to save

well in the

New Testament

Jesus is called

the king

and the Thessalonians

put their trust

in this king

and they

believed on him

despite much

opposition

and Paul

wrote to the church

he was unable

to visit the church

but he wrote

on two occasions

to encourage them

in their faith

and to remind

them of their hope

and in 1 Thessalonians

4 he writes

to tell them

about the coming

of the Lord

the day of the Lord

when the Lord

will return

for his own

and in chapter 4

verse 17

verse 16

rather

Paul says this

the Lord himself

will come down

from heaven

with a loud command

with the voice

of an archangel

and the trumpet call

of God

and the dead in Christ

will rise first

after that

we who are still alive

who are left

will be caught up

together with them

in the clouds

to meet the Lord

in the air

and so we will be

with the Lord

forever

Paul reminds us

in this chapter

that when a Christian

dies

they simply fall asleep

in Christ

that's why

cemeteries

were called cemeteries

it's from the Greek word

meaning to sleep

because we fall asleep

in the Lord

trusting that one day

the voice which rose

Lazarus from the tomb

will wake us

from our sleep

we will be taken up

caught up

with the Lord

in the clouds

Jesus used the language

of clouds

didn't he

just before his trial

Mark 13

he said this

people will see

the son of man

coming in clouds

with great power

and glory

and he will send

his angels

and gather

their elect

from the four winds

from the four ends

of the earth

so the New Testament

gives us a picture

of this king

coming in clouds

to save his people

to save them

from their enemies

to save them

from the last enemy

which is death

what a wonderful hope

to have

as Christians

that we fall asleep

in the Lord

and one day

as he woke

Jairus' daughter

with those words

little girl

I say to you awake

you will come to us

and speak our names

into our ears

and say

I say to you

wake up

and we will be

forever

with the Lord

the king

who comes

in cloud

and as we go

to 2 Thessalonians

we see

another image

of the Lord's

return

this time

not coming

to save his people

from their enemies

but coming to judge

those enemies

in verse

chapter 1

verse 5

Paul says this

this is evidence

that God's judgment

is right

and as a result

you will be counted

worthy of the kingdom

of God

for which you are suffering

God is just

he will pay back trouble

to those who trouble you

and give relief

to you who are troubled

this will happen

when the Lord Jesus

is revealed from heaven

in blazing fire

with his powerful angels

he will punish those

who do not know God

and do not obey

the gospel

of our Lord Jesus Christ

the Lord coming

the same event

but from a different perspective

not the Lord coming

in the clouds

to save

but the Lord coming

in fire

to judge

the great king

of heaven and earth

his glory visible

to the whole world

saving his people

and judging

their enemies

and so we see

the same themes

appearing

both in the Psalms

and in Paul's correspondence

to the Thessalonian church

and the wonderful thing

of course

about the Christian gospel

is that we're able

to move

aren't we

from one body

of people

to another

maybe you're here

today

and maybe you're

saying well

I'm not a worshipper

of God

and I'm not a follower

of the Lord Jesus Christ

what hope have I

the wonderful thing

about the gospel

is that the door

is open

the way

is open

for us

to return

and that through

the death

and the resurrection

of the Lord Jesus Christ

our sins

can be forgiven

we can go

from being sinners

to being saints

we can go

from being those

who walk

according to the flesh

who go the way

of the world

to those who are led

by his Holy Spirit

we can go

from being enemies

of God

to being his friends

those who go

from hating God

to those who

love him

and are loved

by him

those who are dead

in sin

and trespass

who are alive

in Christ

and raised with him

and living

according to his

ways

we can move

from being

children of wrath

to children

of God

and this is a profound

transformation

isn't it

we have the great hope

verses 8 and 9

but we have the present

experience

verse 10

of knowing the Lord's

providential care

in our lives

he guards the lives

of his faithful ones

and he delivers them

from the hand

of the wicked

wonderful to hear

Tim and Hazel's testimony

of the Lord guiding

and the Lord providing

and I'm sure

many of us

will be able to share

something of that

the Lord's provision

just the right time

and in just

his way

we know God

as our father

and we know him

as our friend

and that transforms

our present experience

verse 11

light is shed upon

the righteous

and joy

on the upright

in heart

what a wonderful

joy it is

to be a Christian

to be brought out

of the domain

of darkness

and brought into

his wonderful

light

instead of hostility

with God

and with others

to know peace

with God

and peace

with men

so let me ask you

friends

where are you

this morning

are you verse 7

a worshipper

of idols

or are you

verse 8

somebody who

rejoices

in the Lord

are you somebody

under God's judgment

or somebody

who has enjoyed

his salvation

are you somebody

who fears the Lord

oh yes

but knows him

as a father

and a friend

or are you

somebody opposed

to his purposes

indifferent

to his promises

and his plan

for all that he has made

the wonderful news

in the gospel

is that we can come in

to that family

we can be cleansed

from all of our sins

we can be filled

with his Holy Spirit

and incorporated

into his people

and we can have hope

and a future

what a wonderful

gospel

we can be on the

winning side

like my daughter

who supported France

we can join

in the celebrations

and we can share

in that wonderful joy

the Lord reigns

let the earth be glad

let the distant

shores rejoice

well we rejoice

and let's

pray together

as we close

Father we do thank you

that you are indeed

an awesome God

that your lighting

lights up the worlds

the earth

sees and trembles

and yet we thank you

oh God

that you

though exalted on high

stooped down

to lift us out

of the ash heap

to set our feet

upon a rock

to put a new song

in our mouths

and we pray this week

Lord as we face

trials and temptations

of many kinds

that we will look

not to our

weakness

but to your strength

and we will bring

before you in prayer

all the matters

which trouble us

trusting that you

care for us

and we pray

that you would help us

to walk in your ways

Lord

to live distinctively

as salt

and as light

to be willing

to suffer

for being a Christian

knowing that there is

in store for us

great glory

and that you have

plans and purposes

for us

to give us hope

in the future

so we thank you

for our Lord Jesus Christ

through whom we have

boldness and confidence

to come to you

and we pray

that as we

close our service

and begin our time

of fellowship

you would

just bless us

as our Father

as our best

and our most powerful friend

and help us

to encourage one another

toward love

and good deeds

and all the more

as we see this

glorious day approaching

and so we thank you

for this time now

in Jesus name

Amen