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[0:00] Our God who saves speaks to us. Let's take our Bibles and turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1.! We're going to read the first nine verses. 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

[0:15] ! Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God and our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be holy.

[0:30] Together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord, and ours. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

[0:43] I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way, in all your speaking and in all your knowledge.

[0:56] Because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you, therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

[1:09] He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

[1:27] Have you made any resolutions for this new year? Maybe this year you will run a marathon. Maybe not.

[1:38] But according to the Bible, you are running a marathon. The Bible compares the Christian life to a long race, doesn't it?

[1:53] Many lessons are drawn from it as such. Now, good runners will break down long races into smaller pieces. Maybe into miles or even into laps.

[2:08] The race of life is divided for us into years. It's not a random length that I have selected. It's a division that we find in Scripture, isn't it?

[2:19] We're told how old Jesus was when he went into temple. We're told how old people were in terms of their years. It's a length that's a division that we find in nature, in creation itself.

[2:34] The year is linked to the world God created. Right now, our planet is orbiting, moving, running through space at the speed of 67,000 miles per hour.

[2:49] That's a thousand times faster than you should ever drive your car. That's how fast our earth is running. And at that speed, it takes one year to make a lap.

[3:03] It's 365 days to make one lap around the sun. And last night at midnight, we completed another lap. It was lap 2011 A.D.

[3:18] Well, we only get around 80 laps in a lifetime, though none of us can even boast about tomorrow.

[3:31] So as we've come to the end of another lap, what should we do? Well, let's think about what runners do. What do they do at the end of the lap? Well, they're checking their pace, aren't they?

[3:42] They want to know how they're doing. And that's a lesson for us. It's a time to obey that practical command to examine ourselves.

[3:55] How did we run that last lap of the race? And as we do that and we look back, we may find things that encourage us.

[4:06] We did some things right. And what should we do about all those things that we actually did right? Well, we should turn this time of our life into an Ebenezer stone and raise a monument of praise to God.

[4:20] All that we have accomplished, you have done for us. Here I raise my Ebenezer. Hither by thy help I'm come. I've made it this far by your grace.

[4:31] So it's a good time to praise God for what we see in the past of blessing and successes. But as we look back, we'll also no doubt see things that we regret.

[4:44] We didn't run like we should have in the past. Duties left half done or undone altogether. What do we do with that? Well, we confess our sins and we act fresh faith in the blood of Jesus that covers over our sins forever and makes them as white as snow.

[5:06] Don't carry heavy baggage of guilt from the pasture into this new year. Don't let the guilt of the last lap slow you down in the next lap.

[5:18] Act fresh faith in Jesus. Look afresh to him. Leave all your sins behind at the foot of the cross. So that you're able to start the new year with a clean slate.

[5:32] What else do we do with regrets? We can't go back and relive lap 2011. But we can learn from it and resolve by the grace of God to do differently.

[5:43] We can repent. We can change our ways by the grace of God. Sin is like weights, entangling clothing that hinders us from running as fast as we ought.

[5:55] And so we're told to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and run with perseverance. The race marked out for us. Have you seen things that have hindered you in that last lap?

[6:07] Get rid of it. Any sins? Throw them off. And so we come to this point in the race where we've just completed one lap and we're beginning another.

[6:22] Now, these mile markers are not only places where runners look back and check how they did in the last lap. But it's also a point in the race where runners take refreshment.

[6:36] And I can't say this by experience, but I did see it on television. And everything you see there is true. Not. But at the mile marker, there was actually a refreshment table.

[6:50] And on the table were cups, hundreds of them, of water, paper cups. And so as you come to this mile marker, you might grab a cup as you're running by or two.

[7:02] And one you drink down and the other you douse on your head if it's a hot day and try to cool off. And in the refreshment of that moment, you then run on the next lap. Well, let me suggest that as we come to the end of the last lap and as we're starting today, this new lap, what is there to refresh us?

[7:25] To give us new energy to run the next lap, regardless of how we've run the last lap or the last laps of our life? Is there anything to encourage us and to give us strength for the new lap?

[7:42] What is it that can refresh us? Well, it's the promises of God. Adoniram Judson, along with his wife, went to Burma to be missionaries, taking the gospel to those people.

[7:58] Only to find them only to find himself arrested and thrown into a hot, stinking, rat infested prison. That was the race that had been marked out for him.

[8:13] And there he is in prison and from the prison. He wrote his wife and he said, my future is as bright as the promises of God. To look all around, look at that rat.

[8:29] Smell that smell. Look at that nasty guy. Nothing to encourage. But to fix his eyes on the promises, he says, my future is as bright as the promises of God.

[8:41] Here's a man sucking nourishment on the promises of God. That's what will strengthen us as we run into this new year. The promises of God.

[8:52] Would you open to that passage that was read? We have just one such promise that we want to draw nourishment from today. A refreshing promise to drink down, to splash over your head, to revive your hope and joy and peace, to renew your strength, to keep you running the race this coming year.

[9:17] First Corinthians one verses eight and nine. Paul says, and he's speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[9:33] God who called you into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, is faithful. We have here two points. The promise of God and the faithfulness of the promiser.

[9:49] We'll look at those. First, the promise of God. Verse eight. He will keep you strong to the end. That's the promise. He will keep you strong to the end.

[10:02] Is there not encouragement in that as we take our first steps into the new year? He will keep you strong to the end.

[10:14] Who's he speaking to and what is he promising? Well, if you look up to verse two, we see who he's speaking to. He's speaking to the church there in Corinth. To those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus.

[10:26] That means they're they're set apart from the world and set apart for Christ. They're called to be holy, not to live their same old life of sin, but to live a holy life.

[10:40] Together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. Are you in Christ?

[10:50] Are you in Christ? Is is Christ your Lord? Then this is your promise. He will keep you strong to the end. Now, what exactly is this strength that he's promising then to his people?

[11:05] Perhaps we immediately think of physical strength. And though I don't think that's excluded, it's not what he's pointing us to primarily here.

[11:16] Rather, he's saying all that you need to keep running the Christian race. Yes, I will give you. Everything you need. All that inner strength and grace to sustain you.

[11:30] Not just for a lap or two, but to the very end of the race. He will keep you strong. He will sustain you. He will see you to the end.

[11:41] He'll get you there. Now, we need to remember that the race of life for the Christian is a spiritual race, isn't it? Just as it's called a spiritual battle.

[11:53] So it's a spiritual race. And so the strength promised here is not primarily physical strength. In fact, it's a strength that continues even when your physical strength is waning.

[12:07] Is that not good news? That though the outward man, the physical man, is perishing and wasting away, there is such a thing as inner strength by which we are renewed day by day.

[12:22] That's the strength. That's the strength we need. That inward, moral, spiritual strength to go on choosing the hard right and rejecting the easy wrong.

[12:36] To go on committing ourselves to the lonely right over the popular wrong.

[12:47] The God-pleasing right over the self-pleasing wrong. No small strength is needed for that. He will keep you strong to the end.

[12:59] Maybe it's strength just to keep believing that God is good. We all arrive at this mile marker in different conditions.

[13:13] Some come with your strength sapped. Some of you come ready to tear into the next mile. But for some, God is writing chapters in your life that you would have never written into your story.

[13:27] But he is the sovereign author of life and he's writing these chapters. And so you are living your nightmare. And every day you wake up to the same dark horizon.

[13:41] And you see no light at the end of the tunnel. Well, you need strength just to make it to noon. And then to supper. And then to get up in the morning.

[13:54] You need strength just to believe God is good. And he will not go back on his promise. Even when your circumstances seem to mock and laugh at the promises of God.

[14:07] You need strength to say no. To ungodliness and worldly passions. And to live self-controlled, upright lives. Godly lives in this present age.

[14:20] You need strength to always have a no. For every time sin says yes. To be able to counter it.

[14:31] To strength to resist the devil. To so resist him that he will flee from you. You need strength to not let this world squeeze you into its mold.

[14:42] And as you feel its pressures coming upon you. You need strength to push back. And not take on its priorities and values and standards.

[14:56] Strength to control your temper when you're provoked by another. Some of you just need strength to shut your mouth. To bite your tongue. To not get in the last word.

[15:07] Strength to overcome evil with good. Well, this is the kind of strength we need to run. In this race of life. And that's the very thing that's being promised to us here.

[15:18] He will keep you strong. To the end. Strength to do your studies. Strength to do your work. Strength to do whatever you do with all your might.

[15:28] Strength. Strength. Even when no one's looking. And others are slacking off. Strength to keep working on your marriage when your flesh screams to give up.

[15:41] Strength to cut off relationships. To cut off occasions of sin. Situations. Places in your life. Things you do that are as loved by you as your right hand.

[15:54] Your right foot. And your right eye. You need strength to gouge those things out of your life. Just to lop them off. Cut them off. Strength.

[16:04] Strength. To keep ministering to others when even you see little or no fruit. Strength to keep praying when it seems God's not answering. Strength.

[16:16] To obey your parents when your will conflicts with theirs. Strength. To keep yourself sexually pure when immorality is so easy.

[16:28] And temptation is so strong. And when everyone else is doing it. Where are you going to get that strength? This is the Christian life.

[16:39] This is all involved in the race. Throwing off the weights. Throwing off what hinders us. Sin. He will strengthen you to the end.

[16:52] Strength to repent when we fall. To not lie down in sin. And to give up the fight. But to get up again and to keep running. There's a scene in the movie Chariots of Fire.

[17:04] Where Eric Little is in the race. A race. And in the race he gets pushed. And he falls. And he goes down to the ground. And at that point the whole thing goes into slow motion.

[17:16] This is the critical moment. What will he do? Will he lie there on the ground? And no he doesn't. You see him pull himself together. And he gets up. And he starts running again.

[17:28] And he really runs. And he runs. And he wins the race. Now that may be very rare in a track and field event.

[17:40] But that's what happens in every Christian's life. Every last Christian does that. They sin. They fall. And they're down.

[17:52] Keep watching them. What do you see? You see them getting up again. You see them running again to the Lord Jesus. For forgiveness of the sin.

[18:03] And for sin killing power. For strength to do differently. And they're running. And they will win. Why? Because he will keep you strong to the end.

[18:17] To the end. Now this is a valuable promise when we realize that not everyone who starts out running finishes the race.

[18:31] Is that not a common theme in the Bible that Jesus tells us about? And that's what we see. We see people all excited about being a Christian.

[18:43] And they're off. And they're running faster than anybody. And it's not long before they peter out. And they're no longer in the race. They're no longer anywhere near Jesus.

[18:56] How do we make sense of that? Well, the Bible tells us. Doesn't Jesus tell us that there are people who hear the word with joy immediately? Yes, this is the message I need.

[19:07] This is the life for me. Life in Jesus. But since they have no root. They last only a short time. And when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

[19:20] As fast as they jumped on the bandwagon, they fall off. And others hear the word only to have the normal cares of life come and choke it out.

[19:32] The desire for riches and other things so that the word never produces fruit. These who profess to believe, but only for a while. We see them running.

[19:45] And then they stop. They stop repenting. They stop believing. The apostle John tells us what's happening here.

[19:59] It wasn't that they were saved and they lost their salvation. John tells us in his first epistle, chapter two, that they went out from us.

[20:10] They left us. These people were once running with us, but then they left us. But he says those who went out from us did not really belong to us.

[20:23] How do you know that, John? For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their going showed that none of them belong to us.

[20:35] There's a lot of people running. But not as many people finishing. You know who the true disciples of Jesus are? Are those who finish the race.

[20:47] Jesus said it. The love because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. But those who endure to the end shall be saved. You've got to persevere to the end of the race to be saved.

[20:59] Jesus says, Matthew 24, 13. Now, what's this promise worth to us then in the light of that awesome reality in scripture and in the world that we see?

[21:11] It's just this, that he will keep you strong, not for a lap or two, but to the end. To the finish line. So that we understand that, yes, I must persevere to the end.

[21:24] And the reason I will persevere to the end is because he will preserve me to the end. He will keep strengthening me to the end. And that's where we need our eyes as we cross another mile marker.

[21:39] It's by your grace that I've made it this far. And it's by your grace that I hope to arrive at the finish line. You will keep me strong to the end.

[21:53] Now, there's a so that. So that. Here's the result, the end of this keeping us strong to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[22:06] You know what that day is? That's the day of judgment. That's the day that Isaiah talked about the day of the Lord. And here we find out it's the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. When he returns and judges all men.

[22:18] The day of our Lord Jesus. And so he will keep you strong to the end so that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. What's that promise worth to be found blameless in that day?

[22:32] The word blameless here means unreprovable above reproach, guiltless, without fault. Beyond accusation.

[22:45] And he's referring to the finish line, the way you will be at the finish line. Paul was not able to say that in every way about the Corinthian church. There was one way in which it was true that they were blameless.

[22:58] They had trusted in Jesus and so he had given to them his blameless life and had taken from them all their sins. And so on the record book of heaven, there is that imputed righteousness there that is blameless.

[23:15] But something more than that is being promised here. It is that when you arrive on that day, you yourself will be blameless.

[23:25] Paul wasn't able to say that of these these Corinthians yet. He has many blameworthy things that he's going to take up his pen in the rest of this letter and write about.

[23:37] But he says he will keep you strong. Even you with all your faults and foibles and sins and problems in this church. I am confident that at the finish line, you'll be blameless above reproach without any fault.

[23:52] Why? Because he will get you there and he will sanctify you there. He will glorify you there. Because when you come to the finish line, you will see the Lord Jesus as he is and you will be made like him.

[24:09] And there will not be found any sin in you. And then your own heart will match the record on God's books.

[24:25] He'll look on the record books and you'll see the blameless life of Jesus. And he'll look upon your heart and see the blameless heart of Jesus.

[24:35] Both gifts of his grace. He'll get you there. You'll arrive at the finish line. And because of his grace, you will be blameless.

[24:46] Paul prays the same for the Thessalonian church. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father.

[24:56] When our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[25:14] The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. So here's a reason for still running. We are still running the Christian race.

[25:25] He strengthened us another year. And here's the reason. At the end of our life, we will appear blameless. Because he has been working this in us.

[25:36] He's working in us. We work out of what he works in. And in the end, he will complete his work. Now, that's the first word.

[25:47] The promise. He will keep you strong to the end. We come secondly and more briefly to the faithfulness of the promiser.

[25:58] Because no promise is any better than the one making the promise. Is the one who is promised faithful or isn't he? That's what it all hangs on, isn't it?

[26:10] Many people promise many things. Till death to us part, they promise. And then they part before death. They promise to do this. They promise not to do that.

[26:20] And they're unfaithful. And so the promise is never worth any more than the character. The faithful character of the one making that promise.

[26:33] So how can you be sure that you will make it to the end and be found blameless in that day? How can you be sure of it?

[26:45] Well, it's not because of anything in you. But because of the faithfulness of the one who promised it. Verse 9. God, who has called you into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

[26:59] And I wish we could unpack that middle phrase. Is faithful. Take out the middle phrase. And what is the main point? The main point is God is faithful.

[27:11] The God who's called you into fellowship with his son. No, nothing. It's his faithfulness that he's he's he's always reliable.

[27:24] He's fully trustworthy. You can take him at his word and never be ashamed for having done so. And his faithfulness is the guarantee on his promise.

[27:34] You buy a product and it has a guarantee. And that guarantee ensures and assures you that the product is reliable.

[27:46] OK, we've just received a promise. He will keep us to the end, dear Christian. Now, is there any guarantee? Yes, there it is. God is faithful. The faithfulness of God stands as the guarantee to all of his promises.

[28:02] Because he is faithful, you can take every one of his promises to the bank. They are sure they are true. They will happen. Now, that's nothing true or new, I should say, to to you this morning.

[28:17] Nothing's more sure in life than that. God will be faithful to his word. He's made many promises and he's never failed once. Joshua can say at the end of his life, you know, with all your heart and soul, that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed.

[28:36] Every promise has been fulfilled. You know, those words can be taken to the very end. The last day of this age and be shouted from the housetops.

[28:47] Every promise of the Lord has been fulfilled. Not one has failed. That will be the reality of that day when Christ returns.

[28:59] And we know that as Christians, that he is faithful. And yet how much of our struggle in this Christian race is just this, to have faith in the faithfulness of God.

[29:13] To really believe that he is no liar. He means what he says. And every time he promises, he performs. You know, God knows our struggles.

[29:29] To believe that he's trustworthy. He knows. To read the Bible is to realize, you know, God knows this secret about us. That we have this doubt.

[29:40] Can I really trust God? Can I really put myself lock, stock, and barrel on his promise and rest in that?

[29:51] He knows we struggle with that. That we say, Lord, you're faithful. And we sing, Lord, you're faithful. But when it gets down to Monday and Wednesday and Friday, we struggle greatly with whether we can trust God's faithfulness to his promise.

[30:09] Consider Abraham, the man of faith. The father of the faithful. He received a lot of promises. And we have some of those promises set before us in Genesis 15.

[30:25] God made staggering promises to him. He took him outside one night and says, can you count the stars, Abraham? That's how many descendants I'm going to give you. When Sarah, his wife, was barren and they were getting older.

[30:40] Staggering promise. And yet, Abraham believed that he who promised is faithful. And it was counted to him as righteousness.

[30:52] And then God made another staggering promise. He was standing in Canaan, a land occupied by pagan nations.

[31:04] And Abraham didn't own an inch of it. And yet the Lord promised him this. I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees to give you this, to give this land, to give you this land, to take possession of it.

[31:20] And Abraham said, oh, sovereign Lord. How can I know that I will gain possession of it? How can I know?

[31:34] He's looking for assurance. Lord, I believe. But help my unbelief. Can you do anything to come alongside and to help me know how I can know for sure that this land occupied by these wicked peoples will one day be mine?

[31:53] He's looking for assurance. And wonder of wonders, the God of the universe stoops down to give assurance.

[32:06] To a servant, Abraham. That he's going to keep his promise. And he can count on that. The assurance comes in the form of a covenant.

[32:17] Indeed, one preacher put it this way. God spells assurance. C-O-V-E-N-A-N-T. Covenant has to do with assurance.

[32:32] And God enters. God strikes a covenant with his servant, Abraham. He cuts a covenant. A bloody ceremony that sounds strange to us, but not to Abraham.

[32:44] He knew exactly what to do. God said to him, bring me a heifer, get me a goat, a ram, each of them three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon. And so Abraham not only brought them, he knew what to do with them.

[32:58] And so he takes the heifer and he cuts it in half. He puts half of it here and half of it there. And he takes the goat and he cuts it in half and he puts half here and half here.

[33:09] And he does the same with the ram. And then he rings the neck of the dove and puts it here and rings the neck of the pigeon and puts it there.

[33:21] Or what was the other? The pigeon and puts it there. So he's got these carcasses. Bloody meat laying there.

[33:33] With a path between it. And the birds of prey are wanting to come down and devour. And so all afternoon he's chasing away these birds of prey. Turkey vultures and who knows what.

[33:47] And then. God promises him that after 400 years, he would give this land to Abraham's descendants. That's how I'm going to give it to you.

[33:58] I'm going to give it to your descendants. After 400 years. And they will know great opposition and great persecution. But then I will give it to them.

[34:11] And then when the sun had set and darkness had fallen. A visible manifestation of God appeared. We read a smoking fire pot with a blazing torch appeared. And passed between the pieces of the animals.

[34:26] I told you it was strange. We don't do that at Christmas or any other time, do we? But Abraham knew all about it. By passing through the pieces.

[34:38] The covenant makers were pledging themselves to their word. Even unto death. It was an enacted oath of self-malediction.

[34:49] The person passing through these dead pieces was calling down upon their own head. The curse of the covenant. That if I don't keep my word, may I be treated like these animals.

[35:04] May my blood be shed. May I be violently destroyed. My life taken. That's what men did in making covenants with each other.

[35:17] To assure each other that they meant business. But here is. It's God himself who passes between the pieces of the animals.

[35:29] Not Abraham. God passes through. How can I know? Abraham had asked. And God answers.

[35:40] May I be destroyed. If I do not keep my word to you. He could not have given more assurance to.

[35:53] Abraham than that. God is so faithful that he's willing to put his own existence on the line. Just to remove Abraham's from his mind.

[36:07] Any possibility that God might not do what he's promised. No, it must be fulfilled because God cannot destroy himself. He cannot deny himself.

[36:18] He is the eternal. I am the self-existent one. He's just that faithful. Can you see something of the grace of God in dealing with his servant?

[36:31] He's willing to stoop. To assure Abraham that he means business when he promises. Oh, but he went even further at Calvary, didn't he?

[36:46] Where God the Son actually took the curses of the covenant. Where his flesh was torn. And he was treated like the slaughtered animal.

[37:00] And not for any unfaithfulness of his own. For he had none. But he was bruised for our transgressions.

[37:12] He was crushed for our iniquities. Our law breaking. Our covenant breaking. We broke the covenant. We deserve to be treated like those pieces of flesh.

[37:24] And Jesus. And Jesus. Our substitute. Walks between the pieces. And now takes that curse upon himself.

[37:37] And by taking it upon himself. He sets us free. For Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. By becoming a curse for us.

[37:47] As it is written. Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. And Hebrews 9 goes on to tell us that his bloody death not only removes from us the curses of the broken covenant.

[38:02] The old covenant. But it also secures for us the promised blessings of the new covenant. Forgiveness of sins. A new heart. To know the Lord.

[38:14] For by his bloody death. He also inaugurated a new covenant. He not only by his bloody death. Suffers the curses of the broken old covenant.

[38:25] But by his death. He inaugurates a new covenant. This. He says. This cup. Is the new covenant in my blood. Which is poured out. For you.

[38:36] So at Calvary. He takes the curses. Of the broken covenant for us. And by his blood. He guarantees. All the promised blessings. Of the new covenant.

[38:47] Even eternal life. For his covenant people. He will keep you strong.

[39:01] To the end. Oh but how can I know. For sure. He doesn't need to lead us through the pieces of the torn animals.

[39:15] He leads us back to the cross. See my son. Bleeding. Dying. Suffering.

[39:25] All the punishment you deserve. Securing for you. Every grace you need. To make it. All the way. To the end. He's that faithful.

[39:37] He's not only. He's put his own son. On the line. To prove. His faithfulness. All the promises of God. Or. Yay. And amen. In Christ. His.

[39:48] His life. His perfect life. His death. His resurrection. Secures for us. Every blessing. Even this. Grace. To persevere. To the end.

[39:59] So let's read our Bibles this year. With an eye. For God's promises. Let's look for those. Great. And precious promises. And let's treasure the record we have of his perfect faithfulness.

[40:13] Through all generations. Wherever you're reading. You're finding promises. And you keep reading. And you keep seeing them fulfilled. Oh. Read with an eye for the promises.

[40:24] But read for the record of his faithfulness to keep those promises. And then let each day find us taking him at his word then.

[40:40] Living upon his promises. Sucking in fresh nourishment from them. Dousing ourselves. And finding refreshment in his promises.

[40:50] Glorying in his great faithfulness. Realizing that we owe. The fulfillment of every good promise to our Lord Jesus. Lost person.

[41:02] He is faithful to his gospel promise. He has said. Whoever believes in me. Shall never perish. But have everlasting life.

[41:13] He has said. Whoever. Calls upon the name of the Lord. Shall be saved. He has said. Come to me. All you who are weary and heavy laden.

[41:24] And I will give you rest. Soul rest. He is good. On that promise. Anyone. Anywhere.

[41:34] Whoever you are. Whatever you've done. If you. Take him at his word. He will keep it. Come to him. Trust in him. And enjoy. Everlasting life.

[41:45] In fellowship. With him. You say. How do I do that? Well. Just take his own promise. Right back to him. Lord.

[41:57] You said. Whoever came in faith to you. Would not perish. But have everlasting life. Now keep your word to me.

[42:09] Have mercy on me. For Jesus sake. Count his word to be true. Count him to be true to his word. Oh.

[42:20] His gospel promises. Are true. But so are his promises of judgment. And I must tell you that. He's just as faithful to keep his promise. His promise of coming judgment.

[42:32] As he is to keep his promises. Of grace. And goodness. Oh. He is true to his word. The word has gone forth out of his mouth.

[42:45] The soul that sins it shall die. The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God. Is eternal life through Jesus Christ.

[42:58] Christ our Lord. We're going to sing. Great is thy faithfulness. I'm going to call on you to sing this. By faith this morning. As you head into an uncertain year. Great is thy faithfulness.

[43:13] The words come to us. From a prophet. Named Jeremiah. And he's got red eyes. Because he's weeping. Even as he gives us these words.

[43:24] Great is thy faithfulness. You see he's inside. The besieged Jerusalem. He's inside the city walls. Outside are the ruthless Babylonians.

[43:35] They're there. Their army. Cutting off all supplies. Coming into Jerusalem. Inside. Is starvation. Parents eating their children. Piles of dead bodies.

[43:47] And the streets. Everywhere the eye could look. Was bitter hopelessness. But then Jeremiah calls something to mind.

[43:58] To the mind's eye. Not the physical eye. But. To the. Mind's eye. That makes all the difference. In his outlook and attitude. Inside. Besieged.

[44:08] Jerusalem. The promise of God's unfailing love. The faithfulness. Of the promiser. He says. Yet this I call to mind.

[44:19] And therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord's great love. We are not consumed. For his compassions never fail. They are new every morning.

[44:31] Great. Is. Your faithfulness. So I say to myself. The Lord is my portion. Who? This Lord of great faithfulness.

[44:41] And. Steadfast love. Therefore I will wait for him. He hasn't moved outside of Jerusalem. He's still right inside. And from there he can sing. Great.

[44:52] Is thy faithfulness. We've finished a year. We ought to be singing this song. As a monument. To his. Many mercies. That have brought us this far. We ought to be singing it.

[45:03] By faith. That. He's going to take us. The next lap. Of the journey. And however many laps. That be. Until. One day. We appear before him.

[45:14] Blameless. In Christ. Christ. Let's stand and sing it. To his praise. Great. Is thy faithfulness. Number 27. In your hymnal. Let's pray.

[45:26] We thank you Lord. For your many promises. And that. Behind them. Stands. The guarantee. Of your faithfulness. Thank you. That you are so faithful.

[45:37] That you are willing. As God. To bring the curses. Of a broken covenant. Down upon. Your own son. God the son. If that's what is necessary.

[45:48] To keep the promises. Of salvation. Indeed. There was no other way. And we thank you. That you did not spare. Your own son.

[45:59] And if you didn't spare him. In order to keep your promise. How will you ever. Go back on. Any of your. Promises to us. Forgive us.

[46:11] For our wicked unbelief. Forgive us. That we have not. Every time. We've seen a promise. In the scriptures. Jump for joy. And put ourselves. Lock. Stock.

[46:22] And barrel. All of our weight. Upon that word. And live differently. In the light of it. Forgive us. For all of our sins. Of the past year. Thank you.

[46:33] For every grace. And mercy. That we have received. In the past year. Thank you. That we're still. Many here. Found on the way. The way. That leads to life.

[46:44] With the very spirit. Of God in us. Working in us. And this precious promise. To get us. To the finish line. Blameless in Christ. We pray for others.

[46:55] Who. Head into a new year. With. With no savior. Father. Bring them. To believe the promise. And to. Cast themselves. Upon your faithfulness. And so receive glory.

[47:07] From all of our lives. May our very. Demeanor. Say. To the world around us. We have a faithful. Sovereign. Truthful. Lord. And we can entrust.

[47:17] Ourselves. For time and eternity. Into his care. Oh. Help us. The greater honor. Would be brought. To your faithful name. We ask. In Jesus worthy name. Amen.

[47:27]  Amen.