A Nation Under Wrath — Bertie Johnston

Our Father, we come before Thee again on this Lord's Day morning, and we approach Thee, the great Almighty God. And Father, we confess this morning that we know very little about Thy majesty, Thy power.

We know very little about Thy creative ability. We know little about, Lord, the greatness of our God. And our Father, we pray this morning with what we do know that we might, and we can indeed pray to Thee and thank Thee and adore Thee for the goodness and the love of our God toward us.

We thank Thee, our Father, above all this morning, that Thou art a pardoning God. For, Lord, if You would not pardon our sins, we would be damned and lost, for born in sin we have no hope. But, Lord, we thank Thee that there's one whom we can approach this morning, one that we can come to this morning, and one who knows our very need.

And as we, Lord, gather together in this sanctuary today, we pray, our Father, that we might be conscious of Thy presence and of Thy help. We pray, loving Father, that Thou would lift us up above the things that hinder us and hold us and keep us back from Thyself.

We pray, Lord, our Father, that we might be conscious right through this meeting that God is with us. And we pray for the Holy Spirit Himself to move in our hearts and lives. Thou knowest each one of us, Lord.

You know our homes. You know all things concerning us, Lord. You know how we feel this morning. You know how we have failed You in the week that is gone. You know how we have sinned, Lord, and strayed away from Thee.

And, loving Father, we come this morning to be reminded that Thou art a God who loves us and cares for us, and is ready and willing and able to pardon this morning, to cleanse this morning, to set us free from every bondage and every fear and every doubt and everything that would keep us down on a lower level.

And, O God, we pray this morning, like Isaiah of old, as we have come into this sanctuary, that we might, Lord, our God, get a glimpse of the glory and the majesty and the glory and the greatness of our God.

That we might get our eyes fixed upon the throne above, where, O God, where there's all the activity of the angels and the cherubims, where there's all, Lord, our God, the power of God. And, Father, we pray that we might, as we look up and see in faith the loveliness of our Lord, that we might see ourselves and cry out like one of old, Woe is me, for I am undone.

And, Lord, we realize this morning that we have no argument. We realize this morning, Lord, that as we come before thee we are condemned, sinners, Lord, saved by the grace of God and by grace alone. And, Lord, we rejoice and we praise you for this, this morning, that many in this meeting can say that I am redeemed.

And so, loving Father, we pray that out of these hearts that are redeemed, that we might be drawn closer to thyself, Lord, that we might see, Lord, the difficulty, Lord, of the things around us, that we might see, Lord, the ever-increasing lawlessness and godlessness that's working around us in these last days, bringing us, culminating, Lord, in the last minutes of time.

And, Father, we thank you that we are the children of God, saved from the wrath that is coming and shall be with thee in heaven throughout eternity, nothing that we have done but everything that thou hast done.

Lord, help us this morning. Deal with us. Move upon us. Wherever there's pride in our life, wherever there's arrogance, wherever there's sin, whatever there is, Lord, we pray that thou would wash us and cleanse us and make us feed, Lord, in thy presence, that we are undone and unflamed.

And so, Father, we bless thee for the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ. And we rejoice this morning. We worship thee and we praise you, Lord, this morning, that we are thy children. And so, Lord, we pray and we intercede this morning for, again, for our nation, Lord, going through and through like a drunken man.

We pray again for our nation, Lord, that doesn't know where to turn and yet, Lord, will not repent. We pray, Father, that you will have mercy upon us. We pray that you'll have mercy upon our province and upon our people.

And, O God, we say and we sing that thou art the same yesterday, today, and forever and how true it is as far as your love and grace and mercy is concerned, but it's also true concerning your judgment.

And so, Father, we realize that you change not. You're the immutable God and no way dost thou vary, for thou art without shadow or turning. And thy word is truth and we pray to you this morning, Father, that we have a guideline.

We pray to you that we have the truth of an unchanging God in a changing world where all around us seems to be crumbling and falling, Lord, from the very finances, Lord, of our land to the, O God, to the popper on the street, Lord.

We're all affected, O God, by, O God, what is happening around us. And so we ask thee, O Father, wilt thou come and breathe upon us and help us, Lord, to realize this morning, O God, how far and close we are to the end and how soon will the trumpet shall sound and it will be over to the great eternity and all other things will go pale into insignificance.

Remember, Lord, those who are not with us this morning. We pray, O God, that thou will touch them, some perhaps that are going cold that could be here and are not here. We pray for them. Others that may be working, Lord, we pray for them doing their necessary work.

We pray for, Lord, those that are sick this morning. Pray that you'll be near to them, Lord, and we pray that the blessing in the hand of the Lord will be upon them. Remember too, Lord, the activity of the missions that's on in the district and the area.

Remember, Lord, our brother as he closes in the Independent Methodist tonight. Remember, Lord, everywhere across our land, for thy word is great. And so, Father, we return your thanks and we wait on thee now, Lord, this morning, O God, for thy word to be ministered to our hearts.

We also thank you, Lord, for being with those in the past week, Lord, some that were hospitalized for a short spell and others, Lord, O God, who were in the crisis corner when thou didst come and meet them.

And we thank you for this. We bless thee that your hand has been upon us. And so for your word, Lord, as we read it, as we preach this morning, we need the anointing of the Holy Ghost. We need the power of God to fall upon us.

We need, Lord, you to make it alive, make it real to us, make it mighty to us, Lord. Show us, Lord, what thy word's saying to us. And may each one of us breathe out the prayer, speak, Lord, thy servant heareth, and that we might be open to the word of the living God this morning, and that the blessing of the Lord will be upon us.

Remember those who do the creche, and for the little ones, we thank you for them. And so, Father, our faith looks up to thee. Blessed Lamb of Calvary, hear me when I pray. Wash all my sins away and make me holy thine, for I ask it in the Saviour's name and for his sake.

Isaiah’s Prophecy Against National Sin

Amen. We're turning to the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 5. Take your time and get the place. The prophecy of Isaiah. Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon. And then you have the great prophecy of Isaiah. Scholars tell us that Isaiah was a young man when he commenced to write what God has given to him.

In actual fact, they would say that he was about 19 years of age when God moved upon him to speak to the nation. One of the greatest books in your Bible. And we're reading this morning from the verse 8 of the 5th chapter down to verse 17.

Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth. In mine ears, saith the Lord of hosts, of a truth. Many houses shall be desolate, even great ones, and small ones, or fair ones, without inhabitant.

Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah. This is the second woe. There are six woes in this chapter. This is the second one. Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink, that continue until night, till wine inflame them.

And the harp, and the vial, the tablet, and pipe, and wine are in their face. And here's the problem. But they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands. Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge.

And their honorable men, the great men, are famished. And the multitude, the ordinary men, are dried up with thirst. Therefore hell has enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure. And their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoices, rejoices shall descend into it.

And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled. But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.

Then shall the lambs feed after their man, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. And so reads the word of the Lord, and we know the Lord will bless to us the public reading of his own precious word to our hearts.

The Nation’s Persistent Iniquity, Pride, and Instability

In this fifth chapter of his prophecy, Isaiah hammers out six woes against the nation of Israel. Six things that were fundamentally wrong with the nation. And I suggest to you this morning that the very same things, and you can study the other four woes yourself.

I suggest that the very same things are the problem with our nation. And I've been preaching on Lord's Day mornings past because I have been directed to from the Lord to do it on the subject the nation under wrath.

And my duty and my responsibility is to sound the trumpet, and that's what I'm trying to do. And that's what I'm going to say this morning teaches us nothing else. It teaches us that the passing of time has changed nothing.

Man's inherent problem is still the same. Iniquity, arrogance, pride, instability, greed, fears, everything else. 2 ,800 years ago when the prophet Isaiah penned this, my friend, nothing has changed. Not a thing.

Modern 21st century man with all his education, with all his scientific achievements has done absolutely nothing to change morality, infidelity, and to change the course of our nations. And I wonder if people do not heed God, that they would take heed from history.

Because history continually tells us this very thing. 2 ,800 years ago, and you would think you were living today when you read these verses. Now I want you to ask yourself the question this morning, are these things which I'm going to speak about not prevalent before our very eyes?

And so I want to look at two woes this morning. The one in verse 8, and the one in verse 11. And the one in verse 8 commences like this, Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, that there's no place that they may be placed alone on the earth.

Materialism and the First Woe

Now this squashed woe has obviously to do with houses, and fields, and harvests, and crops. These are the materialistic things of the day. You see Israel was an agricultural land, and these things filled the minds and the hearts of their people.

They lived for their fields, and their homes, and their crops, and their vineyards, and they prospered very well. Now let me say this to you quickly this morning, the Lord's not saying that there's anything wrong with these things.

And the Lord's not saying to you and I this morning that there's anything wrong with having a house, or a car, or a caravan. Now there's nothing wrong with us having money, there's nothing wrong with us having a good lifestyle.

He's not saying that at all. He has given us all things richly to enjoy. And he's not saying that to the people of Israel. What he is saying to them is that they have possessed much that they have forgotten about him.

Lust and greed and accumulation of things is what he's speaking about here. And Israel has forgotten his Maker. And this is a problem this morning. And this is a problem in our nation this morning. This is a problem in our provinces this morning.

This is exactly the problem, materialistic things, men and women so taken up with them that they have forgotten God. That's exactly why this rule is upon the people. You see God was good to his people.

And God has been good to this people. And God has been good to you this morning. And he has been good to the nation this morning. There's been great prosperity in our nation. Unemployment is down, wages are up, mortgages are low.

The new labour boom, the Celtic tiger. But has it done anything to bring stability? Has these things brought down anything to make people happier? Is society a safer place because of them? No, the answer is no.

Presents are full. Alcoholic clinics are full. Rehabilitation centres are full. Special sittings in the courts for the divorce, for divorces. Hasn't changed anything. Now my friends, listen to me this morning.

Because God's speaking to us. And this tape will be one item. God's speaking to us. Listen to me this morning from the Word of God. Now I don't say anything that I don't clarify with the Word of God. Has anything changed?

Listen to the woe of this verse 8. Woe to them that have house to house and field to field placed alone in the midst of the earth. Now I want to ask you this morning. Look around our nation. Look around our province.

See the homes. Nothing wrong now with having a home. I must impress that. I don't want people to go out of here this morning with a guilt trip. That's not my calling. God's not saying there's anything wrong with you having a home or a car.

He's not saying that. But the woe is on the fact that they have left God out. Look around the province on our nation this morning. You'll see homes, mansions. You'll see great sites that men have sought out.

They have set them alone. That's what the Word of God says. They have set them alone. They have joined house to house and lay field to field. That there be no place. That they may be placed alone in the face of the earth.

And they have mansions. And around those mansions they have fenced them and they have wired them and they have cameras round them and they have electric gates round them and they have alarms and they have dogs and everything else to keep people out.

But I say to you this morning, the majority of them, take the drink away from them. Take the drugs away from them. Take the music away from them. Take the internet away from them. Take the satellite television away from them.

And they'll die. And the very simple reason is this, my friends. This is their life. This is their life. And that is the life of countless millions in our nation this morning. That's what they live for.

Houses and land and materialistic things. That's what they're living for. They have an insatiable lust and greed that comes from the heart. And so they're after everything that they can get. But there's no thought of God.

You see the Lord Jesus beautifully illustrates that in Luke's Gospel chapter 12. Do you remember in that chapter the man came to him and said to the Lord, I want you to speak to my brother. His brother in the flesh.

I want you to speak to him that he'll divide the inheritance with me. You see, there must have been left a bit of land or something like that. And they were arguing about it. And they'd fallen out about it.

And he came to the Lord and he says, I want you to sort this out, this inheritance with my brother. And he said to him, I haven't come to be a judge or a ruler over you. And then he went on and he said to him, he said, man's life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.

And he went on and he told the parable resulting from that of the rich fool. So the Lord Jesus Christ is saying to this man, listen, these are only things. And man's life consists of none of those things which he possesses.

And he told the parable of the rich farmer, how he had the barns and everything else. And God said, thy fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. And so that's the very reason that the woe is upon these people.

Economic Fear, Greed, and the Fragility of Wealth

Now I ask myself the question, are we going to see the fulfilment of verse 9? Look at verse 9. In mine ears says the Lord, a host of a truth. Many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitants.

I could take you this morning to large stately places in the county of Manx. They're looking out over Lough Erne, upper Lough Erne and lower Lough Erne. There are acres of acres around them of limestone land, the best in the country.

And this moment, and I remember them, lived in some of them. And I remember the things that went on in some of them. And I could take you to some of them this morning, more than one of them. The roofs have caved in.

The swallows are nesting in the rafters. The sheep and cattle are in the rooms. And the ivy is growing through the windows. And all possibility that those that own them are in hell. And own them are in hell.

And I wonder, are we going to see a day like this very soon? Are we going to see it? When large houses and small houses across our land and our nation will be empty. Let me tell you this. Another few days like last Wednesday.

Another few days like last Wednesday and this could be the case. Because I tell you, and I don't know very much about these things, but I'll tell you this when I turn on the wireless I can hear things.

Last Wednesday 65 billion was dropped off the stocks and shares in Britain. And one of the interviews was asked in the midst of the panic, and if you know I don't know, I don't follow across this man, no interest in me other than this.

But I can tell you last Wednesday it got the headline news over the foot and mouth, over the hijacking of that plane where there were people shot, killed. It got headline news all over the world. Japan and Wall Street and the stock exchange in London.

It got headline news, 65 billion. And they asked the interview, why is this sudden drop? And here's what he said. Two things, fear and greed. Fear and greed. And my friend that just sums up beautifully this message this morning.

And this first part of it. Fear and greed. There's a fear in people. Thousands of people watched that. Millions of people watched that falling and going round. They couldn't do anything about it. And they're saying to themselves, there's our holiday gone.

There's our boat gone. There's our second home gone. There's our new telephone gone. Just like that. One after the other. It's a 65 billion in London. And don't you tell me that that couldn't happen again this week.

And don't you tell me that they'll recover from it in a hurry either. I send it could happen again. Tomorrow morning the whole thing could go bump. Plenty of houses there.

Plenty of cars there. That's right. That's why God is saying, Woe unto them.

Woe unto them with their great houses and their fields and their lands. And their materialistic things. And that wasn't this day and we could spread it all out. Woe unto them with their thousands and millions in their stocks and shares.

Woe unto them. Their forgotten God. A photograph in the National Paper recently had two young Wall Street businessmen lighting cigars with $20 bills. And we don't want to speak about the wealth that they'd accumulated.

But we give them $5 ,000 for a bottle of wine. $100 for a cigar and smoke them half and then put their foot on them. But I'll tell you it'll stop. It's going to stop. It's all going to be ground to a halt.

Economic Judgment and the Failure of the Vineyard

Now look at the next verse. Ye ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath. Ten acres of vineyard will bring in eight gallons of wine. What good's eight gallons of wine? And then it says in the next part of it,.

And the seed of an homer shall yield a nepha. One tenth that shall be sown shall be raped. That's all. That's all. And it's not God's fault. Look at verse 4. Chapter 5. What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it?

Wherefore when I looked at it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes. And it's not God's fault. Can we not see this morning that there's a plague crossing our land? Can we not see this morning that ungodliness has brought it on and wickedness and turning away from God?

And men that will not repent and men that will not turn and men that get it very hard even to say they're sorry. When they're slaughtering, up they'll slaughter probably this week up on a million kettles and most of them there's nothing wrong with them.

They'll have to take the guns from the farmers down in the south of England in case they'd commit suicide. And my friend, very natured self-speech from those Marx men when they did shoot the pigs the size the mother's turned on them.

I don't think there was anything greedier more than that because our souls are more sinful. The judgment of God is upon the nation and it's out of control. Billions every day has been lost in rebellion.

I don't think there was anything greedier more than that because our souls are more sinful. The judgment of God is upon the nation and it's out of control. Billions every day has been lost in rebellion.

I'll tell you when the revenue from the gambling and the revenue from the tours and the revenue from these other things start to grip we're in trouble. The nation's in trouble. And I don't say any of these things this morning with glee I say them with sorrow and with sadness and I say them with more sorrow because I hear no voice from the pulpits and I hear nobody calling to pray.

Alcohol, Lust, and the Second Woe

Now look at verse 11. Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning that they may follow strong drinks that continue until night till the wine inflame them. Does verse 11 not describe myriads today?

Are they not at it from morning to night? You can hardly go into a town, let it be morning or night but you'll see a drunk man or a drunk woman. And one of the most subtle features of all this thing is the sacred drinker.

Hundreds and hundreds of alcoholics dying in their homes they never go near pubs, they never go near bars. It's not just one section of the community this has hit. And look at verse 13. Therefore my people are gone into captivity because they have no knowledge and their honourable men, that's the glory men that's the great men, the mighty men are famished and the multitude are dried up in the street.

That's the great men and the small men. That's the lord from the lady. That is the intellectuals and the politicians. That is the fellow, the working man. They're all mixed up, they're all together here.

You wouldn't see some of these great politicians some of these glory men, some of these great men these scientists and these intellectuals and these multi-millionaires. You'll not see them in a pub at the corner.

You'll not see them standing walking up the town or walking up the town staggering drunk. No, no. They're in their seedy houses. They have their chauffeurs. They have their cocktail cabinets. They have everything else that they want.

But let me tell you the end is the same because of like verse 14. Therefore hell has enlarged itself.

God doesn't draw any difference between.

The great man and the small man. He doesn't make any difference in the big drunkard and the small drunkard. God doesn't see that fellow in the street that's staggering and splashes his wages and he has nothing to go home and he's lying out in the cardboard boxes.

He's no better than the man that's in Parliament. He's no better than Prince Charles in the sight of God.

Or no worse. The great man and the small man they're all drinking.

That's what they're doing. But not only that, they're lusting. Do you see the last part of verse 11? Follow strong drinks that continue until night till wine inflame them. That word inflame means to burn hotly.

That's where your rape's coming from. Your murder's coming from. That's where your sodomy's coming from. It's coming from these drunkards. Has it changed? 2 ,800 years. Come on now, has it changed? Is this old book not up to date?

Can you not read it with your newspaper before you? Haven't I told you things that have happened all week? 2 ,800 years ago there's a woe from God to Isaiah. Woe? Hell's enlarging herself. Hell's getting bigger for you.

My friend, this is very serious. We say so often in our prayer meetings and quite rightly so it's lovely, it's a scripture. He's the same yesterday, today and forever. But most times when we quote that we're quoting it because of His goodness and His love in the past to us.

And that is so, and that is good. But remember this. He's the same as far as judgment is concerned too. He cannot change. He's the immutable God. The wrath of God that's upon us here is upon us now. For He changes not.

Sin must be done. That's why Jesus Christ went to Calvary. That's why the wrath of God came upon Him. That's why all the flames of God's wrath fell upon that sacrifice. That's why His only son, that He might save the wrath of you and I and of the nation.

Feasting Without Regard for God

But our nation's Godless. They've forgotten God. And here's what that they're drinking and they're lusting. Now watch it again. Watch again. It's going on all week. It's going on in the day. There's the next thing.

Woe unto them. Verse 12. And the harp and the vial and the tabard and the pipe and the wine are in their feasts. They're rattling, music, singing, dancing and they're feasting. Has anything changed? Ah, but my friend, that's bad enough.

But this is worse. Look at verse 12 again. And the harp and the vial and the tabard and the pipe and the wine are in their feasts. But they regard not the work of the Lord. That's a problem. They have no regard for God.

No regard for God. They're more interested in comic day than red noses. I tell you, you know what it says in Jeremiah? Jeremiah says that there's no shame in them, neither will the blush. Red faces we need, not red noses.

They've forgotten God. There's no regard for God. So what is happening? What's happening? It's happening today. It's happening all around. It happened last night. It's happening all day. It'll happen tonight, all day, tomorrow, what?

Feast day. Drinking. Rattling. From morning to night. And they've forgotten God. Lost it. That's what it says. That's what this man saw. That's what you and I are seeing around us. And the woe of God is upon us.

And the wrath of God is upon our nation because they'll not turn. And as I said one other morning, always remember this, that the judgments increase if they're not heaped. They increase. God could pull back this.

He's in control amongst us. He's in charge. There was a scientist on the other day. He was from either down the south, he was from Ireland. He was a graduate of Queen's University. At least there was some truth to it.

He said it's out of control. And he said that only a gust of wind in the first couple of days if it took it out over the North Sea it would have paralyzed the whole country. God's in charge of the wind, they're not.

He's not in charge. They're in charge of nothing. They can't even make a decision at the minute. God's in charge. He's in charge of the stock exchange. And I'm glad that He is. Glad that He is. What do you and I do in this situation?

Humility Before God and the Hope of the Lambs

Because if you look at verse 15 it says,. And the mean man shall be brought down, a small man, and the mighty man shall be humbled. And Nick Brown will be humbled and so will Blair whether they like it or not.

And Prince Charles will be humbled. And God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. Then here's this lovely wee verse for you and I this month. Then shall the lambs feed after their man. And the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

Well what do you and I do this morning? Well, we do the opposite of what they're doing. They regard not the Lord, you and I do. And you and I regard Him, revere Him and hear something. We humble ourselves before Him.

Not with haughtiness. Not with arrogance. Not with pride. Not with our 21st century intellectual ability. Not saying that we know how to handle the situation but realising and recognising that we are the same as we were 2 ,800 years ago and the problem with these people is the problem with you and I.

We recognise it. And I hope you recognise it this morning. I hope you recognise this morning now that there's not a thing that you can do about the situation. That God is in control. He's almighty. All we can do is to humble ourselves.

And He says here, He says, like the lamb. So I love that. I was speaking last Lord's Day evening on the lamb. The lamb's not a haughty animal. It is not a gnarly animal. It is not an offensive animal.

And we've got to humble ourselves like the lamb. And we've got to say, Lord, take my life. And we've got to say, Lord, thank you that I'm not, thank you, Lord, that I'm not a drunkard. Thank you, Lord, that you saved me.

Thank you, Lord, that you set me free. Thank you, Lord, that my eyes are on to thee. Not on the materialistic things of this age. Not on these great things around us that are going to fall. Oh, the smallness of it.

The littleness of it. My friends, when we begin to compare this morning what you and I have as the children of God. Oh, what is a few thousand pounds, a few million pounds. Man's life consists not on those things.

Not at all. Take no thoughts for tomorrow. For tomorrow will take thoughts for the things of itself. My friend, you and I have no need to worry this morning whether the stock exchange crumbles or not.

You and I have no need to worry. We have a loving Heavenly Father who cares and there that honour me I will honour. And oh, you and I this morning unless there's some of the believers here this morning and these things are getting a grip on you and you're giving over your time to so much of these things and you're leaving God out.

Take heed now. Take heed. Because the woe could be on you too and on me. God help us not to be spending hours at the old internet. God help us not to be spending hours talking about finance and talking about materialistic things and talking about, and leaving God out.

There's no harm in talking about your holidays. There's no harm in talking about your car. And there's no harm in talking about your home. But where's God in our life? That's it. That's what he's trying to say.

That's what he's trying to get over then and he's still trying to get over today. Where's God? And we become as lost. Submissive. Subjection. Subjection to him. Humbling ourselves before him. Saying, Lord, I can't do this.

But you can. You're almighty and you're powerful. Is it any wonder, and I just want you to see this before it looks, Is it any wonder when we come into Isaiah chapter 6 and verse 5 that Isaiah said,. And then said I, This is the seventh woe, for it was to himself.

Woe is me, that I am undone. Can you see that? He's woe unto the nation. But now he's woe unto himself. This is woe. Woe. Lord, I'm not where I should be. Lord, I'm not in the place. He got a revelation of heaven.

He got a revelation of God. He came into contact with the living God. And this man's whole life changed at this thing. This is woe with me. Lord, it's all right about Britain this morning. It's all right about the things that are going on this morning.

But what about me? Yes, others are drinking this morning. Others are rattling this morning. Others are desecrating the Lord's Day this morning. Others are mocking God this morning. No regard for God. What about me?

Woe is me. Listen. Where else does this answer have to be? Only the countenance. The love of God. The way of the sin of the world. The precious, lovely Saviour whom we are going to remember here. Who holds everything in his heart.

He knows what's going to happen this week. Oh boy, he knows what's going to happen next year. He knows he's the omnipresent, omnipotent God. And our God reigns. He's in charge. Do you not think it grieves the heart of God to see wee lambs being slaughtered?