10:30 service, 12/9/21 - St Andrew's Cathedral Sydney

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] brother sisters hear the word of the lord since we have been justified through faith we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ well good morning my name is malcolm gill and i'm one of the ministers here at saint andrews cathedral and it is our joy to welcome you this morning whether you're a first time visitor whether you're a regular member of the cathedral or whether you're somebody exploring the claims of jesus christ we want to welcome you to our service here this morning we have pleased to have our former archbishop peter jensen who will be joining us and we'll be continuing our series words which shape the soul and we look forward to hearing from peter a little bit later on in the service but friends why are we here this morning we've come together as the church of god to fix our eyes on jesus the pioneer and the perfecter of our faith to encourage one another to hold fast to the hope that he has given us and to spur one another on towards love and good deeds in the past god has spoken to our ancestors through the prophets at many times in various ways but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he also made the universe so this morning as we begin let us raise our voices to this wonderful god who has spoken in the words of our first hymn or people that on earth do dwell [Music] hello [Music] is [Music] is [Music] lazy is [Music] is [Music] yes [Music] so [Music] brothers and sisters let us affirm with christians across the ages what we believe about god and his love for us in the words of the apostles creed i believe in god the father almighty creator of heaven and earth i believe in jesus christ his only son our lord who was conceived by the holy spirit born of the virgin mary suffered under pontius pilate was crucified died and was buried he descended to the dead on the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father from there he will come to judge the living and the dead i believe in the holy spirit the holy catholic church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting amen and now as we turn our attention to god's word let me pray for us gracious god your word is alive and active sharper than any double-edged sword today when we hear your voice deliver us from the hardness of heart help us to put away everything that keeps us from persevering in your way for the sake of our lord jesus christ amen the first bible reading this morning is from the old testament psalm 130 out of the depths i cry to you lord lord hear my voice let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy if you lord kept a record of sins lord who could stand but with you there is forgiveness so that we can with reverence serve you i wait for the lord my whole being waits and in his word i put my hope i wait for the lord more than watchmen wait for the morning more than watchmen wait for the morning israel put your hope in the lord for with the lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption he himself will redeem israel from all their sins this is the word of the lord thanks be to god i'm going to invite you now to join with me as we recite together the words of psalm 10. why lord do you stand far off why do you hide yourself in times of trouble in his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak who are caught in the schemes he devises he boasts about the cravings of his heart he blesses the greedy and reviles the lord in his pride the wicked man does not seek him in all his thoughts there is no room for god his ways are always prosperous your laws are rejected by him he sneers out all his enemies he says to himself nothing will ever shake me he swears no one will ever do me harm his mouth is full of lies and threats trouble and evil are under his tongue he lies in weight near the villages from ambush he murders the innocent his eyes watch in secret for his victims like a lion in cover he lies in weight he lies in weight to catch the helpless he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net his victims are crushed they collapse they fall under his strength he says to himself god will never notice he covers his face and never sees arise lord lift up your hand oh god do not forget the helpless why does the wicked man revile god why does he say to himself he won't call me to account but you god see the trouble of the afflicted you consider their grief and take it in hand the victims commit themselves to you you are the helper of the fatherless break the arm of the wicked man call the evil doer to account for his wickedness that would not otherwise be found out the lord is king for ever and ever the nations will perish from his land you lord hear the desire of the afflicted you encourage them and you listen to their cry defending the fatherless and the oppressed so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror glory to god father son and holy spirit as in in the beginning so now and forever amen the new testament reading this morning is taken from romans chapter 5 reading verses 1 to 11. therefore since we have been justified through faith we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand and we boast in the hope of the glory of god not only so but we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance perseverance character and character hope and hope does not put us to shame because god's love has been poured out into our hearts through the holy spirit who has been given to us you see at just the right time when we were still powerless christ died for the ungodly very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die but god demonstrates his own love for us in this while we were still sinners christ died for us since we have now been justified by his blood how much more shall we be saved from god's wrath through him for if while we were god's enemies we were reconciled to him through the death of his son how much more having been reconciled shall we be saved through his life not only is this so but we also boast in god through our lord jesus christ through him we have now received reconciliation this is the word of the lord thanks be to god words which shape the soul there are the words that the world speaks there are the words that come to us from the living god it's words that shape the soul and i've chosen three such words which have shaped my soul and i'm sharing them with you today romans chapter 5 particularly verse 5 and hope does not put us to shame because god's love has been poured into our hearts through the holy spirit who has been given to us let's seek his blessing as we think of these things together our father god we know that we are in ignorance and darkness we pray that by the power of your spirit your word will speak to us this day and help us to be more like our savior the lord jesus and filled with assurance towards him and we ask this in his name amen anxiety is a major modern affliction i sometimes ask gps what's going on with their patients what what are they presenting with and again and again they say anxiety anxiety fear doubt and particularly doubt about the future for what does life finish with but death what is the point of life if it finishes with death how long have we got to go here what is the meaning and purpose of our lives what hope have we instead of hope there is anxiety and this is true even of christians for we too live in this world with its uh troubles and its dangers and its afflictions we too live in the world in which constantly the message goes out which provokes our hope we too and i have to say me too i too suffer from doubt and anxiety for christians this can be said to be a lack of assurance a lack of assurance that living hope which we may have in god and so i want to turn today to this diagnosis of the lack of assurance and turning to the mighty word of god which has been addressed to our hearts which shapes our souls and gives us hope it is interesting to compare our doubtfulness with the apostles great words here in which he says we boast in our hope of sharing in the glory of god now that's the voice of assurance and he didn't speak it simply because he was an apostle but he spoke it just like you just like me as one who has been saved and needing to be saved from our sins through the lord jesus christ for this verse the verse that i'm drawing your attention to today verse 5 is set in a particular context and a wonderful one of that the apostle has spent the first four chapters in the epistle of the romans exposing our sinfulness and exposing the the dangers of our sinfulness as he says a little later the wages of sin is death and he's already told us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god he's already told us that we face judgment and indeed condemnation for our sins we are in an absolutely hopeless place as human beings confronting our enemy our enemy god himself for that is how he describes the situation but the passages in one to four are also filled with the glory of god and the salvation of god and the way in which the lord jesus has come into this world in order to save us and how through his death on the cross there comes peace with god there comes peace with god and the word he uses here in chapter 5 verse 1 we have been justified we who are on trial for our very lives we who have nowhere to go we who are as guilty as sin because we're guilty of sin we have been acquitted justified not because we are good because we are not good by no means are we justified through our goodness we are justified look look at what it says verse 5 chapter 5 verse 1 we are justified through faith faith which is the emptiness which turns to christ faith which only has its strength because it's faith in the one who is the strength the lord jesus christ himself and therefore we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ and he goes on he he bursts forth through whom we've gained access by faith by faith not by works into this grace in which we stand for grace is the special word in the new testament grace is the love of god towards those who don't deserve his love who have nothing nothing in our hand we bring simply to thy cross we cling that's us and that's grace and we stand in grace we stand because of grace we stand in grace we stand because of grace that is our only our only hope in life and in death is the grace of god and we boast therefore in our hope of sharing and the glory of god so firmly grounded is it in peace with god justification by faith and the grace of god so he tells us and then he goes on to talk about experience and he describes experience here negatively in the sense that he talks about our sufferings and he says even in the midst of our sufferings we know that god is at work producing perseverance and perseverance character and character hope and hope does not put us to shame he said and here's this verse because the love of god has been poured into our hearts through the holy spirit that has been given to us why doubt why be anxious well we are in my experience personally and also in listening to people there seem to be two areas especially in which we doubt even as christians we doubt first of all does god truly accept me does god accept me and then we doubt is god still there we doubt in ourselves we become conscious rightly so of our shame and our guilt we become conscious that we do not have any claim on god we become conscious that we sin and that we are habitual sinners we are crippled by this self-doubt which is true as far as it goes i remember indeed in a church i went to where there was a man who who came to church every sunday who who longed for the peace with god but was always crippled i think he had been in the second world war and i think he had seen things and taken part in things for which he could never forgive himself and so he was filled with anxiety he had no assurance i remember too that when i first became a christian myself and began the struggle with sin and began to to to to walk in the way of the lord and and to seek to defeat sin in my own life it i was crippled i i couldn't do it and so i turned and read all the latest authors and and was told that there is a special method for doing this that you could have what was called then the second blessing and so i prayed to the lord please give me the second blessing give me the victory life they used to call it make me holy please god it was a good prayer to be holy i was longing to be holy but it was as though there was a technique to make me holy and then i found didn't work it did not work there was no second blessing in that sense only doubt about your own worthiness and the more you read the word of god the more you doubt it but since then particularly the sort of doubts and anxieties that we have have often been a bit different namely not just the question does god accept me but the question is god's still there for god was declared to be dead in the 1960s and since then in our community instead of a general awareness of god the general acceptance of that there is god those who believe in god are an increasing minority of people or so it seems to us and we begin to ask ourselves and we do ask ourselves is god dead is he is he absent is he asleep where are you lord and just as i underwent the quest for the second blessing and the victory life to enable me to defeat death and sin and be a better person so christians often undertake a quest a quest for the miraculous if only god you would do some great miracle in my life if only i could see you actively at work there are supernatural events that that if we could see them there are emotional highs that if we only we could we could we could sense your presence somehow then our faith would be strengthened by this indeed it goes on and and people then begin to think of faith as a sort of a mystery key which will open the door to riches and prosperity and so forth in this life but it all comes from a sort of an ever more anxious search for the question god are you there where are you god anxiety instead of assurance the assurance that paul expresses here we boast in our hope of the glory of god and so does where does real hope come where my assurance be found for let me say that assurance is one of the gifts that god gives us it is it is it ought to be the experience of every christian person that we have assurance well let me ask these three questions to see from our text where assurance comes from first of all we look at what we have second we ask how do we know we have it and third why are we so sure first what do we have well i've already mentioned it we have been justified through faith not through works we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ peace with him who was our enemy but is now our father peace with god through our lord jesus christ through whom we've gained access by faith into this hope in which we stand we stand in the glory of god and the grace of god that's what we have we rejoice in our hope because he has given us that great hope he has accepted us you ask does he accept me sinner that i am do you not think he knows that you are a sinner do you not think he understands the human heart and yet he speaks and powerfully says you are mine you are my child you have access to me through the death of the lord jesus christ and through the power of the spirit we enfold you you are mine that is what we have but how do we know how do we know and that is where this this great verse that meant so much and means so much to me comes in verse five and hope does not put us to shame we're not going to be deceived we're not going to be tricked it's not all a lot of mumbo jumbo it's not optimism hoping that it might be so no hope will not let you down because god's love has been poured into our hearts through the holy spirit who has been given to us now there's a danger here there's a danger of misreading this it's the danger of thinking right god's love has been poured into my heart in order to make me a more loving person well it is true that the possession of the holy spirit will bring forth the fruit of the holy spirit the chief of which is love that is true but that's not what this verse is about for this verse is not so much about god's love being poured into your heart so that you may be more loving no this verse is telling us that it is by the power of the holy spirit the one who has inspired the word of god the one who illuminates the word of god the one who brings the word of god to us it is by the power of the holy spirit that we are persuaded of the love of god it is because you are inhabited and blessed by the holy spirit it is because the spirit is speaking to you through the word of god and helping you to understand the word of god that you see that at the very heart of the word of god god is love god is love god is love love for you for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life nothing in my hand i bring simply to thy cross i cling naked come to thee for dress fowl i to the fountain fly wash me savior or i die this is the love of god what do we have justification peace with god all those things how do we know by the power of the spirit of god how can we be sure is it through seeing miracles well i don't doubt god does miracles is it because he answers prayer well i've had plenty of experience of him answering prayer and all these things feed into my hope but of course the apostle specifically speaks here of suffering for it is very often the case that we are in the midst of suffering and pain and grief well then then can we be sure of the love of god how can we be sure of the love of god and here we have this most wonderful thing for although there's a paragraph here in our english text in actual fact the way the wording goes it goes immediately on to verse six you see at just the right time when we were still powerless christ died for the ungodly that's you that's me christ died for the ungod how do i know god loves me because i see the cross of christ because i know that he died for me greater love has no man than this that he laid down his life for his friend and that is what christ has done for you christ jesus loved me and gave himself for me as the apostle said not just all of us not just the world but for me and the holy spirit the work of the holy spirit is to take you to the word of god and to open your eyes so that you may see in the word of god the cross of christ god's great moment god's great miracle the miracle is there even when there are no miracles the miracle is there when the world is against you when there's nothing but pain and suffering nonetheless cross stands there as the proof the demonstration the greatest work of god the greatest miracle of god the cross of christ and the resurrection of christ that has ever occurred and ever need a curfew you have that miracle you don't need other miracles for you have that one i in these days of shut down here in new south wales and many other places uh naturally like many other people i walk go out and find a place to walk and there's a particular place i go for walks near my home within five kilometers you'll be glad to hear uh it's a popular walking spot and it's filled with anxious people they were all there riding walking uttering children masked talking but only at a distance we are all there anxiously making sure that we're in good physical health and so we should that's very good trying to live a little longer shall we say fearful of the death which may come in the present pandemic of course anxious throngs for there is anxiety even there as we're walking in the sun and with the beautiful water nearby and then i noticed the other day while i was out walking with this anxious throng something i'd never seen before so i've been there often there just across the bay straight in front of me uh there was a cross a large stone cross and the minute you saw it you realize it dominates the picture you're seeing that it's right central to the picture this large stone cross when i went around and looked at it it was a cross erected immemorial of a person's death but there was also if i understand it correctly there was a cave underneath where they'd been laid and the cave is now empty because the body's been taken away does it remind you of anything doesn't remind you i think of john bunyan's pilgrim who comes with his burden on his back and he comes to the cross and the burden is lifted and rolls away and falls into the mouth of a sepulcher and he gives three leaps for joy and passes on hope which does not make you ashamed hope which will never let you down because it's not sunny optimism is hope based on the truth on the truth of the word of god the truth that god loves and has saved you through the cross grasp the cross grasp the cross and find the blessed blessed blessed gift of true assurance i wonder if you've ever sung or can ever sing or fill your hearts with the song he left his father's throne above so free so infinite his grace he emptied himself of all but love and bled for adam's helpless race his mercy all immense and free but oh my god it found out me no condemnation now i dread jesus and all in him is mine alive in him my living head and clothed in righteousness divine bold i approach the eternal throne and claim the crown unworthy as i am through christ my own that's assurance heavenly father we thank you we thank you for the gift of your holy spirit we thank you that he speaks so powerfully to us we thank you that he is poured into our hearts so that we may know your love for us and we thank you heavenly father the spirit of god brings us to the cross of the lord jesus christ and tells us of the death of sin and that we are justified by faith and have peace with you and indeed the mighty resurrection from the dead and we thank you for all these wonderful things and pray that we may have true assurance for christ our savior's sake amen [Music] [Music] with us [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] ah [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] brothers and sisters in response to the hearing of god's word we now come to a time of confession although we are the people of god scripture reminds us that we still sin we need to confess our failures knowing that the lord jesus died for us and intercedes for us with the father let us draw near to god who freely forgives through his infinite goodness and mercy and pray to him with sincerity and confidence heavenly father we praise you for adopting us as your children and making us heirs of eternal life in your mercy you have washed us from our sins and made us clean in your sight yet we still fail to love you and serve you as we should forgive us our sins and renew us by your grace that we may continue to grow as members of christ in whom alone is our salvation amen our lord jesus christ was sacrificed once and for all to bear the sins of many god therefore forgives those who look to his son for mercy amen and let me pray on the 15th sunday after trinity keep your church lord god with your continual mercy and because the frailty of man without you cannot but fall keep us always under your protection and lead us to everything that makes for our salvation through jesus christ our lord amen let us pray our father in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as in heaven give us today our daily bread forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for the kingdom the power and the glory are yours now and forever are men we continue to pray eternal god and father by whose power we are created and by whose love we are redeemed we thank you for all your gifts so freely given to us for life and health and safety but above all we give you thanks for our savior jesus christ for the gift of your spirit and for the hope of sharing in your glory you know our necessities before we even ask and we fly to you now with our needs and our burdens father we thank you for the tireless work patience and care of those who serve us in healthcare essential and emergency services and all those who provide for our daily needs we thank you for the many in our communities who bless us with service and do so generously and for the common good please lord keep all on the front line of this pandemic safe and healthy for doctors and nurses police ambulance and other emergency personnel please protect them and their families as they care and watch over us please give wisdom and success to those who provide all care in the midst of this pandemic we thank you for the compassion and generosity of governments and businesses and individuals we ask for an ongoing spirit of care and generosity as local and national bodies work to safeguard our communities please lord provide a cure for the pandemic please give health and wisdom to our prime minister scott morrison our premier gladys brujiclian our lord mayor clovermore and prosper their work for the safety and welfare of all god of the nations whose kingdom rules over all have mercy on our broken and divided world we pray especially for all in myanmar afghanistan yemen ethiopia and sudan on this day shed abroad your peace in the hearts of all and banish from them the spirit that makes for war so that all people may learn to live as members of one family lord of compassion and god of all comfort please look in mercy on all who are sick and suffering please bless and bring healing to the sick especially those struck down with the coronavirus please show your compassion to those affected in the many ways that this pandemic has brought trouble to us for those who have lost work and are now unemployed for those who are alone and lonely for those anxious and depressed for the many working from home and studying for those uncertain and absent from loved ones for the grieving please lord meet them at their point of need give to them assurance and confidence to know that you are sovereign remind them of your love we are comforted lord with the knowledge that you can do for us more than we can ask or imagine we pray for churches around the world please give to them opportunities to hold out the hope that we have in your son especially to your church here at saint andrews please father strengthen us so that we may be loving to one another and faithfully trusting your promises we thank you for the certain hope that we have in christ jesus who died for us and has redeemed us in all of this we give thanks that you hear our prayers in the name of jesus our savior amen brothers sisters we've been reminded this morning of the assurance that is ours in christ jesus what do we have according to the book of romans we have justification we have peace with god and we know this because of the holy spirit who indwells us but how can we be sure we have been reminded we can be sure because christ has given his life for us and so with this in mind we raise our voices once again to the lord in the words of the wonderful hymn and can it be [Music] amazing [Music] how can it [Music] me [Music] [Music] is [Music] free oh [Music] nature's [Music] [Music] my heart was [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] through [Music] friends what a stirring anthem for us to sing together of the assurance that is ours in christ jesus we have come to the end of our service together but we would love to know of your visit today so coming up in just a moment and at the end of the service you'll find a qr code if you'd like to scan the code and let us know of your visit we'd certainly love to know of your visit but also if there's things that we can be praying for as a church family we'd love to be able to do that for you as well and just another reminder that after the service there will be a post church zoom gathering where we will have some time of fellowship and prayer together and so our regular members will know that would have been received in this week's bulletin otherwise it is there on the website brother sisters as we go out this week let us pray this prayer together as we commit ourselves to the lord gracious god you made an eternal covenant with us through the blood of your son and brought him back from the dead as the great shepherd of your sheep equip us with everything good for doing your will work in us what is pleasing to you through jesus christ to whom be glory for ever and ever amen [Music] foreign [Music] you [Music] [Applause] [Music] um [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: St Andrew's Cathedral Sydney

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Length: 62min 44sec (3764 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 11 2021