Let us pray. Our great and glorious God, we do thank Thee that Thou hast assembled us here to lift our voices in praise. We thank Thee that the Psalms speak more eloquently than the words of men can ever declare, that a day shall come when the King of Glory shall enter in, and that He from His power and His majesty and His might will leave captivity. We thank Thee, Father, that Thou art pleased to grant to us such a glimpse of the future glory and desire, O Lord, that even in this world we may look with our eyes ever heavenward, desiring to see our great and glorious King enthroned. We pray, therefore, not because of our worthiness, but because of thy great grace, that thou wouldst draw aside that veil which separates this world from the world that is to come, that even for the briefest of moments we might gaze upon the matchless excellency, the beauty and the comeliness of our Redeemer, that we might even look our eyes away delighting in Him who is the author and the finisher of our faith. Be pleased, O Lord, even at this hour, to take the foolishness of preaching, and drawing us in our thoughts heavenward, fix not only our thinking but our affections upon Thee. Thou hast not dealt with us as our sins deserve, but according to Thy lovingkindness, And it is upon that loving kindness that we rest, not only at this hour, but every succeeding hour. Father, we pray for thy richest and most abundant blessings to be poured out upon the Reformed Presbyterian Church. We thank thee, Lord, for their faithfulness, their desire to him thy praise, their longing for Christ and his return. We ask, Father, that the pulpits of the RPC may be filled and anointed with thy spirit, that those who have been charged with preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ may not falter or fail, but with an ever-increasing boldness, as the days grow darker, do so to the salvation of many. Wilt thou not, O God, lead in the unconverted? that they might hear the splendid nature of our Christ, and falling upon their knees in repentance, seek thy face while it is still the day of grace. O gracious God, we do confess that we as a people deserve thy condemnation. We hang our heads low before thee, O God, that we as a people have sought to rejoice in abominations, that we have tolerated the aborting on infant babes in their mother's womb. If thou wilt, O God, to come upon us even at this hour in great judgment and sweep this nation off the face of the earth, we must confess that thou art holy and just and true. But we desire, O God, that even at this hour mercy might be shown to us, that thou wouldst grant revival even in the midst of our days, that our eyes may look upon a day in which Christ is honored from coast to coast. and faithful pulpits preach the living word of the living God to congregations that are full to overflowing. O Father, wilt thou not in mercy turn? Father, we pray for thy blessing upon our brethren in the ARP with the heartache that they have passed through even yesterday. We pray, Lord, that Thou wouldst bring healing and bless their every endeavor. So watch over them even as we pray. That Thou wouldst watch over us and use even the foolishness of preaching to draw us into Thy presence. For these things, Father, we would ask in Jesus' name and for His sake. And all God's people said, Amen. Up until a week ago, I spotted a rather fulsome, white, fluffy beard. I shaved it off because with almost 40 years of marriage, I have discerned that shaving my beard off for my wife, who doesn't like me with a beard, was a cheaper alternative than buying her a birthday present. I make mention of that because I need to tell you what my pronouns are. Ho, ho, ho. I identify as Father Christmas. I have also, in the keeping with the spirit of this age, to give you a trigger warning. And I'm reliably informed that there are trained counselors available, so that should you be triggered in the course of the next half hour, or hour and a half, as the spirit leads, there is someone there available in order to ease your burden, Cuddly Calvins will be available for every member of Synod. And all the colors of the rainbow are available in crayons for you to sketch whatever comes into your mind. I'm joking. Of course. But brethren, how do we get to such a situation? The text that has been assigned to me is from James chapter 2. And we'll read from verse 5. Listen. My beloved brethren, did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him? that you have dishonored the poor man? Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. You're doing well. that if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For he who said, do not commit adultery, also said, do not commit murder. Now if you do not commit adultery, that do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak, and so act, as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. The methodology of James is, at times, really quite jarring. And if you are familiar with the book of James, as I am sure you all are, as being able expositors and students of the word of God, you will recall how James opens up by saying, consider it all joy when you encounter various trials. Is this an invitation by James to some sort of twisted first century Christian masochism? That really hurt. Can I have another please? Well, if we are following the word of God and the stream of thought, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we see that James is not in joining us to rejoice in the suffering itself, but in what it produces in us. It produces endurance, and it's for our perfecting. And which of us, especially if we are of maturer years, has not felt at times our grasp growing tight upon the words of Paul to the church in Rome, chapter 8, verse 28, For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to his purpose. And our hands have shown themselves to be even as with white knuckles as we lay grasp upon such a verse to the comfort of our souls. When we find ourselves even in the midst of ministry crying out that our shoulders are not broad enough to bear the burden, which God has been pleased to place upon them. How often do we go on to consider the next verse in which God, in His Word, reveals to us the very purpose of which Paul has just been speaking. All things work together for good to them that love God, who are called according to His purpose. And what is the purpose of God? to conform us to the likeness of his Son. He sets our feet upon a path that we would not choose for ourselves. And yet we learn to trust when we do not know the purposes of God, but nevertheless would assure our own aching hearts that in and through it all, His purpose will be perfected within us. We desire that wisdom which would discover to our hearts and when we have opportunity to minister to the aching hearts of those whom the Lord has placed under our pastoral care, to speak to them of the needs of their soul. That wisdom which we desire and need to see for ourselves and to help them to see also. And again, James brings us much encouragement. Many of you lack wisdom. Those verses have already been cited in the course of the proceedings here in this place. And the promise of God's Word is that if any of us lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, and God gives to all men generously. And our hearts respond, I can handle that. Give to me generously, because I stand so much in need of the wisdom that can come only from the pages of Scripture And by the application of the Holy Spirit upon this oft-times dull and uncomprehending heart, give to me generously. But if we follow through so much with the book of James, you'll see that there's often a contrast. Although he would encourage us to make this our prayer, that we should seek wisdom that he will give to all men generously. James then goes on to say, but be careful, if you're a double-minded man, you'll get nothing. Double-minded man? How often have we recognized that we have not been as faithful as we desire to be, and that someone has found it necessary to come up to us and say, blessed are the wounds of the friend, to show us our own faults and failings, our hypocrisies, our lack of willingness to adhere to the Word of God when it is difficult or even dangerous to do so. James would encourage us to persevere under trials, that we might receive the crown of life. But there again, James, not willing just to give us that good and easy word, speaks of those who are engaged in lust of the flesh. Lust conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin brings forth death. James can be uncomfortably blunt. He's really only just getting warmed up. I might pose a question to you. Where is God not to be found? Is there some remote region of this world where you might venture where God is not to be found? Or if the technology were available to us, if we were to go to the outermost reaches of the solar system and to whatever planet the scientists tell us now is the furthest planet, seems to change from year to year, would God be found there? Our theology would immediately respond, there is not a place in the known universe that we can venture. where God is not to be found. So is the answer that God is to be found everywhere? Or is there somewhere where God is not found? I would suggest to you that God is not to be found in the thinking of the pagan. The unbelieving heart and mind does not stretch to including God in his thinking. And as James unfolds what it means to be a practical Christian, he speaks of those who are businessmen who say, this day I will go to such and such a city and I will trade and make money, and then the following year I will go somewhere else. And James says, stop a moment and think about what you're saying. Are you guaranteed tomorrow Are you guaranteed this afternoon? Is it possible that before the sun sets, some great catastrophe will overwhelm you or a memory of your family? And even the rank atheist would have to concede he is not guaranteed the next hour, let alone the next year. And James would bring that to our attention and say, you who are believers, have you fallen into the snares of this world? Who say, this day I will do this and that day I will do that. Tomorrow I will do such and such. No, says James. Bring God into your thinking. Let him never depart thence. God willing. God willing, we as a fellowship of the saints, and if you would permit me the liberty in addressing you, we as the RPCNA, God willing, we will do this or we will do that. But let us never leave God out of our reckoning. There's a challenge there for us in the Word of God. But as James opens up that which is for us the fifth chapter, not for him of course, he didn't have chapter headings. But in chapter five, James begins, come now you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. It is tempting. And as all temptations are, it is desirable for us to seek to avoid the implication of what this verse says. As though James is really now writing to those who are unconverted. He can't possibly mean you or me. Not with such words. Weep and howl, your riches have rotted, your garments have become moth-eaten, your gold and your silver have rusted, and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. I almost want to cry out to James. Ease up, James. Not so heavy-handed. Is he speaking to pagans and rank unbelievers? Well, let me cite a few verses from the book of James. Chapter 1, verse 2, Consider it all joy, my brethren. Chapter 2, and at verse 1, My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. with an attitude of personal favoritism. 2.14 What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith? 3.1 Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren. 4.11 Do not speak against one another, brethren. 5.7 Be patient therefore, brethren, Chapter 5, verse 12, above all, my brethren. Chapter 5, verse 19, my brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, do you see how often James addresses the saints, my brethren, my brethren, my brothers in Christ? It would be too easy for us to dismiss the words of challenge weep and howl as though this cannot surely be me that he is addressing. Rather, we must take the challenging words of James and apply these words first of all to ourselves. Chapter 5, verse 12, we read, But above all, my brethren, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your yes be yes and your no no so that you may not fall under judgment. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises. Profanity, prayer and praise. How are three such words found in the same sentence? And yet you who are preachers perhaps given to alliteration and three sermon headings, profanity, praise, prayer, an obvious division. But how is profanity to be found alongside both prayer and praise? But isn't that the challenge of James? How is it possible for profanity and prayer and praise to be found so closely linked? Because we find it so often linked in ourselves. So here's the trigger warning that James would set before us. We think that we have done so well. How have we got to this place? because the church has led the world there. It may be that we are thinking that this is so utterly preposterous that we haven't the first idea how the world could come to the conclusion that you could wake up one day and a man can say, I'm now a woman, or vice versa. It's so evidently false, so evidently ludicrous. But has a church been faithful in the discharge of its high calling to preach Christ and Him crucified? I believe that the church has led the world there. Let me seek to prove that to you. Have we not for many, many decades now have churches which have conducted surveys to find out what the unbeliever wants to hear on a Sunday. I trust not your fellowships, but the church as a whole has encouraged us to believe that we should engage in seeker-friendly services. Tell the unbeliever what it's comfortable for him to hear. You see, the church has been doing this longer than the world has been doing. Now, you may say to me, well, that's not our church. That's not we in the Reformed tradition would do or have been doing. Well, I would urge you to look back upon the prayer of Daniel recorded in the ninth chapter of the book that bears his name. And when the Lord lays it upon his heart to pray, how does Daniel pray? Let me remind you from the opening verses of chapter 9. So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments. We have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, rebelled even turning aside from Thy commandments and ordinances. how easy it would have been for Daniel to point the finger at the kings and princes of Israel and say, here's where the fault lies. To point away from himself. After all, where do you find anywhere in Scripture anything that's negative about Daniel? He was a faithful man, even from his youth. But when he gets upon his knees before the great and awesome God, He says, we have sinned. We do not deserve your loving kindness. And yet we would make that our petition. So has James gone too far when he says, weep and wail? Or is he saying what our souls need to hear? James concludes his wonderful book by talking about saving a soul from death. And as we preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, our desire and our longing is that the Lord would lead in the unconverted and those who may be unconverted in our midst would hear of the loveliness of Christ and turn to him Do you believe in gospel preaching? Of course you do. But might I, for a moment, modify that question and ask you this. Do you believe in gospel pleading? There's a story told of Robert Murray McChain, who I'm sure is known to you, whose writings to this day, though he died before he saw his 30th birthday. An eminently godly and saintly man, but plagued with ill health. On one occasion, a student from Edinburgh came to preach while he was unwell. And in the keeping of that particular day, The student preached on hell. Well, what would a student preach on apart from hell in mid-Victorian Scotland? Afterwards, he went to meet with Robert Murray MacChain and the young student declared to MacChain what he'd been preaching on. And the response of Murray MacChain is notable. Did you preach it? with tears in your eyes? Did you preach it with tears in your eyes, longing for the conversion of the unconverted? I have come to tell you that you deserve hell. And so do I. If God were to come even at this moment and sweep me off into a lost eternity, I would have to be translated from this world even to the depths of hell, proclaiming His justice and His righteousness. But by the grace of God, that is not my future. In a moment, we will sing from Psalm 63. And I want to draw in particular to your attention the words of verse 3. Because your love is more than life, my lips will give you praise. mercy triumphs over judgment. Spurgeon told the story of a woman who came to Napoleon. Her son had broken some military law and was sentenced to death as a result And the woman coming to Napoleon pleaded for mercy. And Napoleon said to the woman, Why does your son deserve mercy? To which she responded, If he deserved it, it wouldn't be mercy. We preach as dying men to dying men. We preachers are never sure to preach again. When viewing the sins of others, our vision is always 2020. We recognize all that James speaks of in the preceding verses, murder, adultery, theft. Samuel Rutherford, that great Westminster divine stood before the presbytery of St Andrews and declared that he had his own sins as other men. But them hath he cleansed, forgiven, and given him joy unspeakable and full of glory. Mercy triumphs over judgment. How do I know? Because the sure word of God declares it to be so. But we are also, brethren, experimental Calvinists. We can testify to all who have ears to hear Come to Christ and find forgiveness and healing and redemption. Joy unspeakable and full of glory. How can we declare this? Because you and I have experienced it. We know God's mercy at first hand. That though we deserve nothing from the hand of God except His condemnation, We preach the forgiveness that is to be found in Him and in Him alone. We declare it from the Word of God, from the mouth of He who cannot lie. But we would also declare it from our own personal experience, that I am a sinner saved by grace. So in dealing with those with whom we might have a difference of opinion, even as you have found in the last couple of days, there is this injunction from the letter of James to the early church. not to rise up and to condemn others, but to recognize that the person to whom you are speaking, the person that you are addressing, over whom you have these concerns, is a brother in Christ. And if he's a brother in Christ, then I would do well to remember for myself, first of all, that I am a sinner saved by grace, and in speaking to another, have that set before my view at all times. It is my experience, having come from what perhaps I might be justified in calling the home of Presbyterianism from Scotland, that American Presbyterian churches are perhaps more congregational than you are willing to admit. We come together in assembly, we come together at presbytery, and no doubt because of the distances that are often required in order to make it even to a presbytery meeting, we come together for our business, we undertake the business, and that the end of Presbytery is a benediction, it might as well be the start of a NASCAR race. Everyone leaps into their car to get home because, well, tomorrow is the Lord's Day, and you still have that sermon to complete. We don't know one another well enough. I would encourage you, brethren, perhaps if needs be, even in some official capacity to set aside times in the presbytery meeting so as to have fellowship with one another. If you know someone on a personal level, you've heard his sorrows and his woes, you've heard his joys, you've heard of the ministry to which God has called him and the blessings that he has received And you heard something of the burdens upon his heart. And following the injunction of Paul, we say we rejoice with those who rejoice, and we weep with those who weep. Now as that man rises to his feet to speak into the microphone, you see him not merely as a fellow delegate, or for those who truly are Presbyterian commissioners you see him as a brother in Christ and even though you may disagree with him on this matter or on that and take a different line when it comes to the vote that which unites you in Christ enables you to see beyond a difference of opinion and to embrace Him as one for whom Christ has died, one for whom mercy has triumphed over judgment. There is, and I almost hesitate to mention this, a hymn But it's a paraphrase of a psalm, so perhaps you'll not have me drummed out of the hall. Praise my soul, the King of Heaven. To His feet your tributes bring. Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven. Who like me His praise should sing? who like me his praise should sing. May the Lord grant to us each and every day a passion for Christ and for the lost and may we preach the mercy of God and even of the forthcoming judgment, yet with tears in our eyes, because that is what Jesus has rescued me from. Perhaps one of the greatest statements that we might find of our union with Christ is from the letter of Paul to the church in Galatia. who sums it up most magnificently. And we trust would write these words upon the fleshy tables of our hearts. Who loved me and gave himself for me. May the Lord prosper the work of the RPC&A. And if the Lord is pleased to pass by the OPC, but grant an everlasting token of His affection for this denomination, then we in the OPC would rejoice to see it, if only souls are one for Christ. And those who even now have their feet upon the path that leads to destruction are seized upon by the Holy Spirit, with or without that trigger warning, and while it is still the day of grace, pleaded with to come to Christ and rejoice in Him. Amen. Please rise as I would lead you in prayer and then we'll sing Psalm 63, Version B. Let's pray together. Our gracious God, our Father in Heaven, Thou hast worked miracles of grace within our hearts. We do not deserve Thy goodness and Thy kindness. That which we have not deserved has so freely been bestowed upon us. We pray, Lord, that when we preach to dying men, women, children, that we may do so with a heartfelt desire to see them come to Christ. We thank Thee for the psalm which we sang together of the glorious entering in of King Jesus. and yearn and long for that day. We would add our voices to the voices of countless generations who have pleaded, even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. We pray, Father, that even in this life we might have a foretaste of heaven when the hand of our God will reach down even from the throne of grace and wipe away the tears from our eyes. We long for the day in which there'll be no more sickness, no more sorrow, no more crying, for these former things will have passed away and that the last enemy itself, even death, will be conquered by King Jesus. While thou art pleased, O God, to continue this world and to extend the day of grace until the number of the elect are brought in, We ask that in whatsoever tasks are appointed for us, whether as teacher or as preacher, as elder or as deacon, that we may be found faithful unto thee, to that end, O God. Send thy Holy Spirit upon us, that the pulpits of this land may be found faithful. For though Gabriel, in his knowledge of thy majesty and power, is able to praise thy name, there is reserve for those who are redeemed a note of praise which only they can bring The elect angels know Thy glory and Thy majesty, but we know Thy love and Thy mercy. May we be swift to proclaim it, to Thy glory, to the salvation of souls. Hear us, we pray, in Jesus' name, for His sake, and all God's people said, Amen. Psalm 63, verse B. I'll seek you early, God my God. My soul's a thirst for you. Psalm 63, verse B.