Well, good morning. Welcome again to the Bethany Associate of Reform Presbyterian Church as we come together to worship the Lord our God on this blessed Sabbath morning. And as we get going this morning, a few announcements. First of all, we are overjoyed and thankful to be able this morning to lay the covenant sign of baptism on young Mr. Marshall this morning. So again, we welcome all the Robinson family and all the other family members here. Thank you for being here for this day, this blessed time, where we get to see the Lord work by his grace. A couple other announcements to make, just as a reminder. Today, we are filling and delivering the 14 fruit and goody Christmas carry baskets to our shut-ins, elderly, and those facing health or life challenges. Thank you again for placing your donation items in the fellowship hall and for assisting in deliveries. Again, this comes from Karen Jones and of course from all the ladies in WOC. And we also give thanks again for all the work that they do for this blessed gift every year. A couple other things to be reminded of. Also, the Lady Circle will be having their annual Christmas party on Thursday, December 5th. If you have questions about that, please see Ms. Keisha. But again, all the ladies are invited, and please sign up before Thursday. Also, by way of reminder, this Friday we'll be having our annual parents night out. So all of the youth are welcome to come on Friday night. Parents, you are welcome to abandon your kids in the fellowship hall for about three or four hours. And depending on how long Ms. Dean wants to stay, I guess is the top end on that. But just as a reminder, that'll be this Friday on December 6th. Also, there is a sign-up sheet down front here for the Gastonia Symphonic Band concert featuring Miss Linda. She's going to be part of that and it'll be on the 13th of December. So the sign-up sheet for those who'd like to go are down here on the front. Also, I have listed on here, just as a reminder, the session will be having their monthly stated meeting tonight at 6.30 after evening service. So just a heads up on that. Also, on the 15th of December, we'll be having our annual congregational meeting to approve the budget, re-elect treasurer. And this year, we'll be having elections for deacon. So again, be in prayer for that. And two nominations have been received. for the Office of Deacons, so again, be praying for those men. Also, I have written down here, just as a reminder, we'll be having Sunday evening service tonight at 5.30, so of course we invite everybody for that. Of course, Wednesday night at 6.30, we'll be having youth group and Wednesday night prayer meeting. So again, as we look forward to all the blessings the Lord has for us this year. One last thing I see written down here, the choir will be having practice today at four o'clock. And that will be all the kids and adults who are part of the Christmas pageant. So just a heads up on that. And I think that's enough for this morning. So let us go ahead and prepare ourselves to come before the Lord. And let us be ready to worship as we go into a time of silent prayer. Amen. Again, as the Lord has blessed us with another glorious day in His kingdom, another opportunity to gather together on the first day of the week to be in rejoicing for the blessings of His grace. Again, we go to our call to worship this morning, which comes to us from 1 Chronicles chapter 12. as we hear verses 16 through 18 from the word of the living God. Again, let us come together as we hear these words of grace from 1 Chronicles chapter 12, beginning at verse 16. Hear the word of the Lord. Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to David at the stronghold. And David went out to meet them and answered and said to them, if you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart will be united with you. But if you betray me to my enemies, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look and bring judgment. Then the Spirit came upon Abisai, chief of the captains, and he said, we are yours, O David. We are on your side, O son of Jesse. Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers, for your God helps you. Amen. Thanks be to God for the reading of His holy and His perfect word. And as we testify to our place on the Lord's side, upon the army that God has made in His image, that we might rejoice and give thanks for all of the blessings of His grace. I invite you to stand now as we sing together our opening hymn, hymn number 204, Away in the Manger. Let us stand and sing together. As long we've traveled far and wide, The little Lord Jesus lay down His sweet head, The stars cross the land through the night, The little Lord Jesus, so sweet to lay. ♪ I love you, Lord Jesus ♪ ♪ I love you, Lord Jesus ♪ ♪ I love you, Lord Jesus ♪ ♪ I love you, Lord Jesus ♪ And again, as the Lord gives us opportunity this morning to testify in the goodness of the very Son of the Living God. Let us come now before this self-same God in prayer. Let us pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, You are the Great and the Almighty One. Enter God, You have made this house of worship. You have blessed us in Your mercy by giving unto us a house by which we might come and rest in Your presence. That we might leave behind all of the trials and tribulations of this world. And we might be reminded of the power of your covenant promise. That you are the same God who brought our forefathers out of the land of Egypt. And you are the same God who has brought us into the heavenly places in your Son. And so dear God, as we worship you this morning, and as we rejoice from the depths of our hearts, and as we are reminded in the power of the gospel that Jesus Christ has died for sinners, that Jesus Christ has laid down his life, that we might no longer be enemies, but we might be friends, and we might be family, and that we might be brothers and sisters, not by flesh, but by grace. And we might unite in this strong bond of fellowship and that as we sing these songs and as we hear your word read and as we see your work done, dear God, may you light our path and may you open our eyes to see more clearly the glory that is your name. That as we leave this house and as we go back out into a world that denied Christ, Dear God, may we be stronger in faith, may we be stronger in conviction, and may we be more and more at peace with the gospel promise that you are God and that we are your people, both this day and forevermore. Dear God, we gather now to say the words together that your son taught his disciples to pray, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debts. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen. Again, as we testify to this word that we have just said, we turn once more in God's holy scriptures to our Old Testament passage, which comes to us from the 21st chapter of the book of Kings. And as is our practice, we read here from the Old Testament when our sermon text comes from the New. And so we return once more to this story of Ahab and of his evil in the days of Nabal. So again, 1 Kings 21, to getting there, verse 17. Hear the word of the Lord. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. There he is in the vineyard of Nabob, where he has gone down to take possession of it. You shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the Lord. Have you murdered and also taken possession? And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the Lord, in the place where dogs lick the blood of Nabob. Dogs shall lick your blood, even yours. So Ahab said to Elijah, have you found me, O my enemy? And he answered, I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and I will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, and like the house of Bathsheba, the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation which you have provoked me to anger and made Israel sin. Concerning Jezebel, the Lord also spoke, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city. And the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field. But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up. And he behaved very abominably in following idols. according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Jebusite, saying, See how Ahab has humbled himself before me, because he has humbled himself before me. I will not bring calamity in his days. In the days of his son, I will bring the calamity on his house. Amen. Thanks be to God for the reading of His Holy and His perfect Word. Please be seated. Well, usually at this time we have our children's lesson, and so I still do invite the children to come up and sit down in front so that y'all can see well what the Lord's getting ready to do. Well, at this time, I would invite Hunter and Ashley and Marshall to come forward. You know, of all the privileges that I have as a minister of the gospel, there are few that equal the privilege that the Lord has provided for me, the presbytery has given me the right to do, and that is to lay hands and pour the waters of baptism upon this young child. One of the things we believe is that this young man, Marshal Killian Robinson, is a member of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. that by virtue of his birth to believing parents, that he belongs unto our living God. And this sign we place upon him is not only the sign that God has given to us by his grace to visibly testify to what the Lord has done, but it is also to remind young Marshall that the Lord has placed his command on his life and that he has called him unto himself He has blessed him immeasurably by giving him a mother and a father who love the Lord Jesus Christ. And not only that, but by the sign of baptism, we are testifying that Marshall belongs to all of us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. That he is ours and that we, in a second, will reconfirm the covenant that we have made in our membership vows as members of the church. But again, it's worthwhile to remind ourselves a little bit about why Jesus would have us lay water on the heads of this young man. In the 18th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, we read, that they also brought infants to him that he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, he rebuked them. or they rebuked him. But Jesus called them to him and said, let the little children come to me and do not forbid them. For if such is the kingdom of God, assuredly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will buy mummies and tombs. And the reminder that the Apostle Peter gives to the men and women of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. He says, therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for this promise is to you and to your children. To all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call. Likewise, in the 16th chapter of the book of Acts, we hear the word of God say, and he brought them out saying, sirs, what must I do to be saved? So they said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you'll be saved, you and your household. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house, and he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them to his house, he sat before them, and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. Amen. So again, as we gather together, we do this not only because God has told us to, but because we desire to witness unto the world around us that Marshal Killian Robinson is the Lord's. So as we come now to this time of blessing, And I have a few questions for you as we begin. Do you renew the vows which you made when you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and entered into the full communion of this church? Do you acknowledge that your child is a sinner in the need of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit? Do you claim God's covenant promises on this child's behalf and do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for this child's salvation as you do for your own? Do you now covenant and promise and humble reliance on the grace of God to bring up your child to love God and to serve him to the end that your child may come to commit his life to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? And having answered the questions in the affirmative, I now ask... In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, And in the name of the Holy Spirit, amen. Let us pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, as we rejoice in the blessings of the covenant, and as we rejoice in the promises of the gospel, and as we rejoice in all the goodness that you have done in the name of your son, the God we do present unto you, Marshal Killian Robinson, that you hand might be upon him both instead and forevermore, in the name of our Savior and of our God, amen. Having had the blessed opportunity again to lay water on the head of this child, I now have a question for you, members of the Bethany Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. Do you, the members of this congregation, undertake with these parents the covenant responsibility for the Christian nurture of this child? If you do, answer by saying, we do. We do. Let's bow our heads. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day that you have made, Lord, for allowing us to come and be witness to this baptism, Lord, this covenant, this child to you, Lord. We just pray for Marshall, that he will be brought up in faith and honoration of you. We ask for prayers also from the parents as they bring him up in your church, Lord. And we challenge those that are members of this church to Watch over him and guide him as he's a young man all the way up until he's a teenager and beyond. We thank you for him. Thank you for the parents, the grandparents. And we just thank you for your covenant that you have with us, your children, Lord. Because as he sings, your son needs nothing. Amen. You know, it's a blessed gift the Lord has given us to be able to do what we do in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Opportunities like this remind us that we are generation by generation a church which believes in the covenant promises of God. That we are here this morning because somebody answered yay and amen to the questions that we just asked. And we remember that Bethany ARP will be here 227 years from now because of the promises that God has laid upon each one of us in baptism. And so we are encouraged by these things. I was reminded that there's one announcement I forgot to make. Next Sunday morning, we'll be having our second Sunday Mugs and Muffins. So again, next Sunday at 920, we invite everybody to come and to enjoy that blessing as well. So as we show our thanksgiving to the Lord, I invite you to stand as we sing from our green Bible song book, Bible song number 27 in the back, as we again sing of the covenant promises of God. Again, as we sing that particular psalm of praise and thanksgiving, we are amazed again at the way God works and that the way our God works in and through the weak to show forth His power. So let us now be seated as we come before the Lord our God. Let us pray. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you have made this day, you have declared it holy. You have set it apart from the other six days of the week, that we might gather together and remember what it is you have done in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For it was on this day, on the first day of the week, that the tomb was empty, that the promises of God were made visible to men, that all the words of the prophets spoke of warning and of blessing came to be seen as they were, the very word of the living God. I said to God, as we do take opportunity this morning to remember the promises that You have made unto us. Again, that salvation is by faith alone. By grace alone. For Your glory alone. That there is nothing that we contribute, even in the most minutest sense, to the new birth that has been given to us. And as we are humbled, as we are brought low, as we are reminded yet once more that You are a God of mercy, and especially a God of mercy to sinners, to those who have sinned in the likeness of Adam, and those who have sinned in their own way, The Gospel reminds us daily that no matter how great our sin, and no matter how small our sin, no matter the nature of our sin, the weight of our sin, Christ has paid for them all. That Christ in the shedding of His blood has paid the penalty for sin. He has made the payment. He has done all that was necessary. in living a perfect life from the moment of his conception until the day he drew his last breath. All that was required, Christ has accomplished. God, may this be the very motivation of our heart as we come before you this morning. As we think in our own way, in our own mind, the things that you have done for us. Whether things you have done this morning, things you did during Thanksgiving week, things that you did 40 years ago. To God, all of them testify to your glory and your greatness. And to God, may we take a moment in the midst of your worship to praise your name. For to God, you are worthy of such. But dear God, we know that you are also worthy most especially of those works that we know not about. Those things that you have done to protect us even from ourselves. The way your providence has guided us in ways that we will not know until the day of judgment. Dear God, there's almost not even words to express how much it is that you do for us. But dear God, we give thanks this morning. And we especially give thanks in the way that we repent before You. We pray that our repentance would not merely be skin deep, but that our repentance would come from the heart. That our repentance would be unto You and to those unto whom we've sinned. But God, there is nothing more beautiful, again, than reconciliation which comes through the work of the Gospel. God, as we pray for these things this morning, and as we consider again the lives that we live and the world in which we live, and as all these things are in our hearts this morning, God, we remember the promise of Jesus Christ. Come unto me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. May we be at rest, not only with one another, but most especially with you. Dear God, as we do think about the world around us, and as we think about the needs of our community here at Bethany, dear God, we pray for your mercy. We especially pray for those outside these four walls who are in need of the Lord Jesus. We pray for those who are in need of shelter, in need of food, in need of clothing, in need of many different things. God, we pray that you would open our eyes and our hearts, that we might feed those who are hungry, and that we might clothe the needy, and that we might provide for those who are in need. God, may you move our hearts to ask that we might serve where services need. And God, as we also think of the many works that are available to us here in the Bethany community, God, we also ask your blessings upon all the churches around us. God, as we pray the same for Bethany, we pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ, gathered together on the Lord's Day, that they might likewise be known in your kingdom. that they might hear the blessings of the gospel, that they might be strengthened by the work of the Holy Spirit, and that you might keep each one of us faithful in kingdom ministry as we seek to serve you. So we give thanks for opportunities you provide where we can work together with our brothers and sisters. Dear God, may you multiply those opportunities. We especially give thanks to you this morning for BSRT, and for Good News Club, and First Thing, and Middle School, and for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and other things that are available to us in the Clover District. God, we ask your blessings on them. As we also continue to ask your blessings upon Gadsden County, and Cleveland County, and Cherokee County. We ask your mercy and your blessing to be upon them. God, as we ask again these things in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, We are reminded yet again that He is King of kings and Lord of lords, and that there is no itch on this planet that does not belong unto Him. And so, dear God, as we think of our brothers and sisters, especially in Rwanda this morning, God, we rejoice at the opportunity that has been given for the ARP and for others to go unto those nations and to train and to teach. And we especially give thanks this morning, Lord, for the successful completion of the first round of this evening. We ask your blessings on those who have traveled and those who are traveling for graduation this week. We especially pray for these young men and older men who have received these lessons to God that the church might grow stronger in that nation. And we do pray for Rwanda this morning as they face many attempts from the evil one to drive trouble into that land. We pray for the power of the gospel. God, we also ask your blessings upon all who are gathered here this morning. God, You know our struggles. You know those things that are weighing heavily upon us even at this moment. We pray, dear God, that You would relieve us of these things. God, that You, again, would answer our prayers in these matters. We pray for those of our number who are sick, those who are absent because of injury and illness and other things. God, we pray that You would bring healing, that You would give peace and comfort. God, we especially pray for these Christmas care baskets and for the hands that prepared them and will deliver them for the witness that they did. God, we give thanks again for your mercies in these things. And to God, we also ask that you continue with us the rest of this day as we worship you in morning and evening. We pray again that your Holy Spirit would lift us up in your presence and that we might in every way be reminded of the blessings of our God. who is the one and only God above all things. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen. I am ♪ You shall come to me, O Israel ♪ ♪ O God, proudly your day is come ♪ ♪ And open wide our heavenly doors ♪ Well, the words to which I'd like to draw your attention to this morning come to us from the book of Revelation. So I invite you to turn there towards the back of your Bible to Revelation 21 as we look at verses 24 through 27 today as we've been in this series through Revelation 21 and 22. Again, we close out the 21st chapter. So let us stand for the reading of God's word. Again, from Revelation 21 to getting there at verse 24. Hear the word of the Lord. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut all by day, there shall be no night there, and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter in anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. Amen. Thanks be to God for the reading of this holy and this perfect word. Let us pray. Gracious heavenly Father, as we enter into this time of worship, as we read and hear your word proclaimed, we pray to the power of the Holy Spirit that you will apply these words on our hearts, that you will use these words, that they might again show forth your glory. And in your name we pray. Amen. Please be seated. As we've been in this portion of God's Word the last month or so, one of the things that I have told you every week, and sometimes preachers have to say things more than once, mainly so that we remember what we said last time, so that we don't repeat ourselves too much, but also it's worthwhile to remind ourselves, and we're in the book of Revelation, how it is we are to understand this book. Because outside of chapters in the book of Ezekiel, chapters in the book of Daniel, chapters in Zechariah, there's probably no part of the Bible that is more difficult for us to wrap our heads around than what we read in the book of Revelation. And so the one to tell us how we are to read the book of Revelation is the one who ultimately wrote it. Now obviously we know the Apostle John wrote down the book of Revelation, but it's worthwhile of course to remind ourselves that the very opening of the book of Revelation tells us that the revelation is from who? And it's from the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, the one to teach us how to read Revelation is Jesus Himself. And in this part of Revelation 21, we're hearing a lot about lights. And last time, we talked about the fact that the light is the Lamb. That He is the one that shows forth the glory of God. That He was the light at the very beginning of the book of Genesis. Even before there was a sun and a moon. And so when Jesus talks about light, we need to go back and find where He talks about it. So in the book of Matthew chapter 5 verse 14, it says, You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. So here we have in Revelation 21 the Bible telling us that the light is the land and here we have Jesus in Matthew chapter 5 saying that we are the light. Now how exactly do we work those two things together? Well remember, what is the purpose of light? The purpose of light is to help people to see. So when you think about the nature of that, that God has given unto the Lord Jesus Christ the name which is above every name, we're also reminded that in the power of the gospel that we likewise have the name which is above every name. That we have been adopted into the family of God and that we in the ministry that God's given to us as the church have some of the same responsibilities given to us by the Lord our God that He gave to His Son. Now, immediately, Jesus, of course, came to this earth to show forth the glory of God through His life, death, and resurrection. And when Jesus was getting ready to ascend into heaven, at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, He tells the apostles And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. So we see here in Revelation 21, in Matthew chapter 5, in Matthew chapter 28, that God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, has given to the church a mission, a calling, a purpose. And that mission continues even in Revelation 21. So what did we just read there in Revelation 21? We heard that, and the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Well, the simple question is, is how do the kings of this earth bring their glory unto the heavens other than the fact that the church is called to go to the kings and tell them the good news of Jesus Christ? That is the power of the light. That is the mission that we have been given. We see examples of this, of course, in the Old Testament. But we must see it most especially, of course, in the story of Jonah. What is Jonah called to do? Now, Jonah doesn't want to do it, but what is Jonah called to do? Jonah is called to bring the gospel to the king of a place that he hates. He doesn't like the people of Nineveh and he especially doesn't like the king of Nineveh because what have the king of Nineveh been doing to the Jewish people in all these days? They've been trying to destroy the people of Israel. They've made it their life's mission to go and attack the people of God. And so what's the best way to turn an enemy into a friend? Is it not through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Is it not to tell your enemy that he doesn't have to be your enemy, that he can be your friend, only if he would stop rebelling against the God who made the heavens and the earth? Now how does the King of Nineveh come to know this? He comes to know this because Jonah tells him to repent, to turn away from his love of idols, his love of false gods, and turn unto whom? Unto the light that is the light of truth, that is the God who made the heavens and the earth. And so when we hear this in Revelation 21, this testimony that the nations of those who are saved shall walk in the light and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it, again we have our mission as the church stated here. Because again, everything that happens in the book of Revelation, as I've said before, is given to the church that we might not be anxious and afraid in a world that is trying to kill us and destroy us. You know, this letter is written to the churches, those seven churches mentioned before. And it's written really to every believer, whether you lived in the first century or whether you live in 2024. Because again, the book of Revelation is a history of God's providential work in the life of the body of Christ. It is a reminder that there is victory not on the horizon. We're not those who sit and wait for the victory. We are those who are living in the light of the victory already won at the cross. We are living in the victory, not just of the cross, but of the ascension of Jesus Christ, where He went to sit at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. We don't believe that Jesus is in heaven right now, twiddling His thumbs, waiting for the Father to tell Him to go back to earth. We believe that Jesus is actively engaged in the life of this world right now. And one of the things that we see in the effect of gospel preaching upon the nations is we also, in our own day and age, see what happens when nations forget the gospel that had been preached to them. Let's go back to Jonah for a second. You know, one of the things about the book of Jonah is it ends kind of on a sad note, primarily for Jonah. But it also leaves things hanging for the people at Nineveh. Did they stay in the good grace of God? Did they stay as a Bible-believing nation? Of course we know that they didn't because God sent the prophet Nahum. And what did Nahum tell us? Nahum tells us that they forsake and forgot the promises that God had made and God was now going to destroy them and run them off the face of the earth. And we see something similar happening in our own day, not just in the United States, but all over the West. You know, God in his great power through the preaching of the gospel, you know, converted Constantine, you know, 1500 some odd years ago. And through Constantine, the entirety of the West was open to the preaching of the gospel. And we saw nation after nation fall at the hands of Jesus Christ through the faithful preaching of truth. up into what's now France, up into what's now Germany, up into what's now Holland, and even into Britain, and to Scotland, and to Ireland. All of these lands which had at one time been under the sway of idolatrous wickedness came to be nations which were known as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. And not only did we see this effect then in small ways, we saw it in big ways. We see the way the Lord blessed the nations of the West with goodness, with mercy, with grace. Every time you drive by a hospital, one of the things you need to remember is how did that hospital get there? That hospital got there because Christians believe that we are to take care of our sick, that we are to love those who are injured, that we are to protect the weak, that we are to give our money so that others might be taken care of. That's what the word hospital even means. That's where it comes from into the English language. It's from the word hospitality. They have the same root. There's a reason why so many hospitals around us used to be called Presbyterian or Baptist or Methodist because who founded those hospitals? Presbyterians, the Methodists, and the Baptists. Now why the Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists needed their own hospital, I'm not exactly sure why, but they founded them things so that the poor and those who were in need would have somewhere to go to receive help. Now, what do we see happening now in the West all around us? This past week we saw one of the most wicked things take place in the land where our people came from. If you think about why Bethany ARP Church is here, it's because all our people from Scotland and Northern Ireland and England didn't want to live there anymore. So they came over here to the blessed land of liberty and freedom and came to York County because this is the best place for ARPs to be, of course. And so they came down here and they brought with them what? They brought the gospel with them. But they only brought the gospel within because the gospel was in Scotland, Ireland, and England. But what has taken place this week? We have seen the Parliament in England put into legal action the right of the state to put people to death. But again, that shouldn't be a big surprise because what does a culture which hates Jesus Christ love to do? Loves to destroy itself. Of course, it didn't begin with the right to put the elderly and those with special needs to death. What really started the downfall of the Western empires really had nothing to do with these things. These are all symptoms of it. It all began back in the 1700s and 1800s when the people of God forgot the gospel of Jesus Christ. and started making the gospel of Jesus Christ all about men and what men like to hear and the tickling wisdom of men. Because the thing about the gospel is that it doesn't come from men. In Sabbath school this morning, we talked from Galatians chapter 1 of how Paul makes it very clear that he is not sent by himself to proclaim his word or his wisdom or his understanding. But he's been given authority by God in heaven to preach who? To preach Jesus Christ. Again, why is AARP here? We're here because the Church of Scotland didn't want to preach the gospel anymore and Ebenezer Erskine and all his buddies wanted to preach the gospel so they had to leave the Church of Scotland to do that in 1734. But it only took about a generation or two before the seceders themselves forgot the gospel. And then there had to be another secession from the first secession. It says something, of course, that our people come here as seceders and the first thing they wanted to do was secede. And then about 70 years later, they seceded again. It just seems to be people who do that. But again, the nature of that, again, is a reminder of how important the Gospel is to the calling that we've been given as the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, if we would see the nations of the West return back to their foundations, to their former manner of life, we would see our own nation do that, well how is it going to happen? The same way we got there in the first place. Sometimes we forget, again, that our ancestors worshipped pagan gods. Some of us don't have to go very far back in our own generations to see our own families worshipping pagan gods. They may not have called it that. They may not have thought they were, but they were. And what is it that brought your family into the house of the Lord? It wasn't because the minister talked well. It wasn't because a church had a bunch of youth functions and all that kind of stuff. What was it that brought your family into the church of the Lord Jesus Christ? It's the testimony that Jesus Christ saved sinners. It is the power of the Holy Spirit changing the heart of men through the proclamation of the truth. That is how the nations of the West, that's how Bethany ARP, that's how you came to be a member of the kingdom of God. It is through the preaching of the good news of Jesus Christ. And that's why Jesus in Matthew 5 tells us that we're to be a city on a hill with a light. Because what does the light do? It shines into the darkness. And does the darkness prevail over the light? Never. Have you ever been in a cave and turned on a flashlight? It's amazing how bright it gets and how fast it gets bright. The same is true of the preaching of the gospel. The promise of the power of the gospel is that it works. And it's worked generation after generation. And we as the church need to remember something simple. that if it worked in the past, it'll work today. One of the reasons I think a lot of our churches are weak is because we don't believe in the power of the gospel. We don't believe that men and women can be changed through the preaching of Jesus Christ. And so either we do one of two things. Either we soften the edges of the gospel, right? We make the gospel sound all purty and nice and lovely and all that, which it is. But that's, of course, not how the world hears it. But on the other side, we have a tendency to make the gospel about us. About our own pet causes, about our own pet sins, about our own pet ideas about stuff. And so what we tell people on the other side is that, well, you have to do this in order that you might come to Christ. You need to cut your hair, or you need to wear this, or you need to do this, or you need to act like this, or you need to do something particular before you're welcomed into the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there is something that you need to do. And what do you need to do before you come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, you need to repent of your sins. You need to turn away from your own idolatrous idea of what is good and what is right, and you need to go to the Word of the Lord, and you need to listen when the Holy Spirit speaks. That's what Jesus does, right? Everywhere He goes, what does He tell people? Repent and believe. Doesn't matter if He's talking to Pharisees, doesn't matter if He's talking to Gentiles, doesn't matter if He's talking to His own disciples. The message is the same. Repent and believe, not according to the wisdom of men, not according to the wisdom of anyone else, but of the straight teaching of what's revealed to us in the scriptures. Now one of the things that we talked about earlier on in the book of Revelation is that in chapter 21 we also are told and reminded that at the end of days in verse 7 of Revelation 21 it says, He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexual immorals, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Now when I preached on that passage a month ago, one of the things I made clear is what is the first sin that is mentioned? What is the first thing we hear that keeps you out of the kingdom of God? It's not Being a liar, it's not idolatry. All those things keep you out of the kingdom. But what's the first thing that keeps you out of the kingdom? Being a coward. That's instructive, I put it. Because what is it about cowards? See, cowards speak a lot. Cowards talk a big game. Cowards act, not how they speak. Somebody who talks big and doesn't do what he says, we also have another word for that. It's called a hypocrite. See, Jesus, as He's preaching and teaching, He's most worried about hypocrites more than anybody else. Because what do hypocrites do? Hypocrites defame the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Right? Hypocrites tell the world that they're believers when inside they're full of dead man's bones. And they lead people astray, most assuredly themselves. One of the most dangerous things we can do in the Christian life is convince ourselves we're Christians. I've said before that in some ways it's easier to street preach in places where everybody's on the same page. If you go street preach in Berkeley, California, nobody's running any assumption. They know they're not a believer, you know they're not a believer, and you know they need to hear the gospel. But you try to go street preach in Clover, SC and what are you going to find? You're going to hear a lot of amens, you're going to hear a lot of good job stuff, but are we living in a place that is known for just an overabundance of gospel living? I think if we're honest with ourselves we know the truth to that question. One of the greatest dangers of the inoculating ourself against the gospel is that we don't hear it when it's preached. Because again, we've convinced ourselves we're a believer. But the warning again that we see here in the passage before us again is that as a lot of the gospel goes out, it does one of two things. It either hardens or it destroys. Preaching the gospel destroys the cowardice of the unbeliever. Right? The preaching of the gospel destroys the pride of the unbeliever. Preaching the gospel destroys any power that we have. Because we don't have any power. The power belongs to the one who made the heavens and the earth. And the blessings that we hear again is that if God wants to save you, what is he going to do? He's going to save you. Now is he going to bring you kicking and screaming into the kingdom? Absolutely not. Because once the power of the gospel hits the unbelieving heart and the heart turns from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh, what does that heart now do? It now pumps with grace, right? It pumps with the love of God. It pumps with the blessings of truth. There's very clear testimony to us in the gospels about those who are hardened and those who are given new hearts. When people are given new hearts in the gospel, what can't they wait to do? They can't wait to worship. They can't wait to praise Jesus. Even when Jesus tells them to hush for a little bit, they can't even stop doing that, right? They just can't wait to tell everybody about the glory of God. One of my favorite examples of this is in the ninth chapter of the book of John, where the young man is born blind. The disciples then, the disciples, my heart goes out to the disciples all the time, because I'm no different. I'm sure I've been the same way. In the beginning of the ninth chapter of the book of John, they're asking Jesus, did this man sin, or did his parents sin, and he was born blind? And what did Jesus say? Neither. Why is this man born blind? So the glory of God might be shown in him. Now, do you think this fella ever thought that the whole time he was growing up? That God was going to use him in a mighty way? I highly doubt that ever crossed his mind. But as soon as the Lord opens his eyes, and of course, to tie things into what we've been talking about, what's the first thing he sees? Lies. You know, it's not really technically related to life, but one of those things I see every now and then, it always hurts my heart of, is when I see these young kids who get their cochlear implants, right, the first time, and they hear their mom's voice the first time, and what's always their doubt is, what's that look on their face? It's not just amazement that they can hear, but they know their mother's voice. And something similar happens to us when we come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We hear our master's voice. And again, that man in the ninth chapter, right, as soon as he's healed, he goes before the synagogue, right, again, the religious people, the people who should know what's going on. And they're asking him what happened, and he's trying to tell them, and do they want to hear? Absolutely not. And even one of the sadder parts of that whole passage is that they call his parents to come and witness and say, was this guy really born blind? And his parents basically abandoned him, and he's totally there for him. Now, does that affect his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? No, because he just keeps asking people if they want to know Jesus. And as they're asking people if they want to know Jesus, he's out doing this. Jesus sees them from afar, tells them to come near, and what does the man want to tell Jesus about? About Jesus. He doesn't realize that virtually he's talking to him, but he wants to talk about Jesus to Jesus, and Jesus tells him and welcomes him into the family. And again, if we believe that the gospel can do that to sinners, then nothing in this world can stop us. But again, what stops us is that we're afraid of what the gospel can do. Sometimes we're like Jonah. We don't really want people to get saved. We don't want people we know to get saved. Because what would that mean? It means they might have to come hang out with us. They might have to come be members of Bethany. They might have to come and be a part of our church family. But you know, one of the things about the gospel is that it changes people. And going back to what we talked about in Galatians 1 and 7 this morning, one of the things that Paul was very clear about is that he's still Paul who did all that bad stuff. But that's not who Paul is anymore, is it? Paul was a man who'd been saved by the blow of lightning. He's a man who has been eternally changed. Now, he no longer presses towards the darkness, but now he lives in the light of Jesus Christ. And he's very clear there that it has humbled him beyond measure. It has changed who he is. He's still the same Paul who was born as harshness and tried to kill Christians and was successful in some cases. But what does he have? He's a humble believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. His life has been changed. His mind has been changed. His countenance has been changed. His purpose has been changed. And again, that's part of being a gospel witness. The church is to give to the world. We are to be those who witness the fact that the gospel does change the hearts of the most hardened enemies of the living God. One of the things that we hear again in Revelation 21, the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day. There shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. For there shall be no means enter anything that defiles. Now again, the nature of this is so beautiful when we think about the fact that the gates are never closed. One of the things that we see throughout the book of Revelation is that God, even when He knows the demons are trying to do all this wickedness, He continues to show mercy to the demons. It's not so much that God never gives up on the demons because they're demons and God knows them from the foundation of the world, but He is a witness of what that tells us. You know, I'm sure there's somebody in your house, or somebody that you love, or somebody who lived next door to you, somebody you know, who you've shared the gospel with a hundred times. And what do they say every time? No thanks, or I appreciate you showing love, or I appreciate this or that. Does God tell us, well, you know, just after a hundred times, that's enough. And then just kind of leave them to, what we hear here again is the door's open. The gates are open. Is there ever a time that we should give up on somebody who doesn't believe in Jesus? Absolutely not. Should our intention with them change at any point? Should we kind of go through the motions with them when we bring the gospel? Say, you know, I've kind of talked to this before. I know I've talked about Jesus before. I know you know all the mechanics of this. And I'm just kind of doing this because I'm supposed to, right? You know, it's like you're engaged in some kind of motley little sales gimmick with them. Is that how we approach people with the good news of Jesus Christ? See, one of the things we see throughout the New Testament is as Paul is progressively getting his outside world destroyed, his intention with everyone he meets is the same. We see so much fruit from the ministry of the Apostle Paul because he not only is serious about the calling that God has given to him, but he actually wants people to get saved. It seems kind of silly to say, but I think you understand what I'm saying when I say this. He comes to everyone as if He's coming to them for the first time. Because the thing is, we never know when the gospel is going to change the heart of that person that we've come to a hundred times. We don't know the plan and purpose of God. We don't know, again, the timing of God. We don't know anything about that. In a sense, it's good that we don't know the timing of it. Because if we did, how would we use our time? We probably wouldn't be very wise about it. Again, as the Lord tells us, we are to redeem the time that we've been given. And how much better would it be if we redeemed the time as the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ and doing what we're supposed to do? Going out unto the nations around us and proclaiming Jesus Christ. Preaching the good news of salvation for sinners. Testifying to them that there is hope provided for them in Jesus Christ, not in Bethany, L.D., and most certainly not in me. Again, it's important to note that as preachers of the word, we in some sense are to preach and get out of the way. Because it ain't about anything that I do or say that brings people to the good news of Jesus Christ. Again, it's the gospel that does all the work. And so when we think about that, again, there's a very freeing testimony to that. There's a very freeing opportunity that God's given to us as we see the world around us collapsing. There's a sense in which, as we see nations around us, especially in our own country, embracing wickedness and embracing evil, that it makes things more clear. In a sense, God has provided a harvest for us. God has provided a wonderful opportunity to make a clear statement about where we stand, and about what we believe, and about how we value life, and how we value one another, and how we value things that the world hates. There's going to be a very clear demarcation coming up, and it's already here. As we baptize this young child today, we've already testified to the world that we believe something they don't, which is that children matter. And that the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a church of children. A church which values not just little life, but old life as well. As we take up these baskets to take care of those who have served us. Again, that's a testimony to something about the way that we live and believe that the world doesn't. As you look at statistics nowadays, one of the things you'll see is every nation in the West has a negative birth rate. Now I'm not gonna get into all the math of that because that's not how the Lord blessed me, but the idea that we see there is that every confessional church, every faithful gospel church I know of is having a baby boom right now. That's not coincidental. That's not just because we're in that motion in a way. That's happening because the world hates children, and the church loves them. And we're witnessing to our loved children by having them. We may not think of it like that, but that's part of the witness of, again, the gospel to this unbelieving world. You know, the thing that separated the church in the early centuries from the Roman Empire was the fact that we would go grab babies out of the literal dump and bring them to our house and take care of them. Because they were the wrong gender, because something was wrong with them, because it wasn't the right time, or whatever it was. Again, there's nothing new under the sun. And the witness that we give, again, to the least of ours and those who need the most nurturing is going to be a great witness to unbelievers around. It's gonna give opportunity for the preaching of the word. It's gonna give opportunity for the gospel as we witness to these things. And so as we hear here in the book of Revelations, we come to a close this morning, and as we think about, again, the nations around us who are being saved by those who walk in the light, and there's ever more reason for us to stand and be the light to this fallen and wicked world. And again, the beauty of it is that we're not doing anything grand with that. We've just got to be ordinary Christians. And I think that's the other thing sometimes that keeps us from doing this stuff is that we've convinced ourselves that to be faithful Christians, we've got to all be the most giant Christian on the map. But that's not what God calls us to be. God calls us to be ordinary, to be boring. God calls us just to do what he's called us to do. Nothing more, nothing less. And there's a great freedom and liberty in that. So again, as we come to a close this morning, and as we are reminded here about the light, and the land, and the church, and the mission that we have been given, the calling that we have been given, again, we have to think again about the last verse. But there shall be by no means entering anything that defiles or causes abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. Now, a lot of, you know, Reformed Presbyterian preachers, I think at this point, get into like a 40-minute diatribe about election and predestination. And again, I believe in election and predestination. I don't want to make it sound like I don't think it's important, but what are we meant to take from this verse? Again, the same thing we're meant to take from everything else in the Bible. It ain't about you. It's about God. By what God is doing, what God has told us to do, what God has established before the foundation of the world, we might walk in it. Because it's God who brought Israel out of land Egypt. It's God who sent his only begotten son, and whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but shall ever last in life. And if we kind of get in the right mindset there, again, it will clear all kinds of things up for us. And it will cleanse all kinds of junk away from the ordinary things we've been told to do as believers in the Lord Jesus. To live out the light to the Gospel to those around us. To preach and proclaim the truth. To be at rest in Jesus Christ. To live in light to the Gospel work that's being done in our hearts. And again, to go out into the nations, outside the four walls of Bethany-Arapahee, and be the light of Jesus Christ for those around us. Witness to God. Talk to them about Jesus. Tell them about the good news of the Scriptures. And you'll be amazed at how the Holy Spirit will work in you. It's not complicated because it's not difficult. So let us come now, as we close our time this morning, in the glory and name of our God, let us pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we give thanks again for the blessings of your truth and the way that your word works in the group of your people to accomplish this work. And God, as we ask your mercy to be with us, and as we ask you again to remind us what our mission is, what our calling is, we pray to God that we would remember the simplicity of the gospel, that Jesus Christ died for sinners at the cross, that Jesus Christ has called all men unto himself, that they might be at rest. They might no longer walk in darkness, but in the light of your truth, and in the Lamb, who is the Savior of the world. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's stand as we sing our closing hymn, hymn number 218. Loretta, give me your hand. 218. Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, Hail, hail, the free and the mighty, God keep our land glorious and bright, Long live the U.S.A.! Long live the U.S.A.! ! Let's embrace the new born King. He has full of motivations. By his wisdom he hath found. He hath made his operations. He hath seen before. He came forth from the dead, washing all people clean. Suddenly came the Rescuer, and He saved the children. Well, as we close worship this morning, as we prepare for this Lord's Day, God has blessed us with this 24 hours of worship. from the world and from all that it testifies to. We come now to close this morning's service and we invite you again to come and be with us again on the Lord's Day evening at 5.30 as we continue to worship God on his day. And if you have need to speak unto me or the elders, we are here to help in any way that we can. Again, let us go to our benediction today from 2 Corinthians chapter 13, verses 11 to 14. Hear the word of the Lord. Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. you