We read these words in Psalm 146. Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. While I live, will I praise the Lord. I will sing praises unto my God, while I have my being. But not your trust in princes, nor in the Son of Man, in whom there is no help. His breath goes forth, he returns to his earth. In that very day, his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, which made heaven and earth, the sea and all that therein is, which keepeth truth forever, which executes judgment on the oppressed, which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth the prisoners. The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind. The Lord raises them that are bared down. The Lord loveth the righteous. The Lord preserveth the strangers. He relieveth the fatherless and widow. but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. The Lord shall reign forever, even though God knows I am, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord. Let's come together in prayer and ask the Lord to name the grace and blessing upon our meeting this evening. Our dear, gracious Lord and heavenly Father, we do come before you this evening And we do pray, Lord, that through the ministry and help and enabling grace of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to praise the Lord, we will be able to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Pray you bless and encourage every aspect of our meeting together this evening. And we commend one another to you now, and indeed our time together, in the most precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our first hymn is number 11. I'll praise my maker while I breath, and when my voice is lost in death, praise shall employ my nobler powers. My days of praise shall ne'er be past, while life and thought and being last, or immortality endures. Hymn number 11. So, I'll praise my Maker while I'm there, and when my voice is lost in air, All praise shall fare he calls my Lord. we lie on Israel's rock, keeping the sky and air for ever stand secure. He saves the oppressed. He feeds the poor. The road supports the fainting eye. He stands the day with conscious peace. He helps the stranger in his strife. I'll praise the sweet release. I'll praise her while he ends the prayer. And when my voice is costly, The French shall never be fought, While I and God continue the fight. and I shall begin to read at verse 16 and read through to the end of the chapter 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 16 I say again Let no man think me a fool, if otherwise, yet as a fool, receive me, that I may boast myself a little. That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, who is, as it were, foolishly in this confidence of boasting. Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory too. For ye suffer for gladly, seeing yourselves as wise. For you suffer if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exhort himself, if a man smite you on the face. I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit, whereinsoever any is bold, I speak foolishly, I am bold also. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more, in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes, save one. Thrice I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day have I been in the deep, in journeyings often in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren. in weariness and painfulness, in watchings, often in hunger and thirst, in fastings, often in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is offended and I burn not? If I must need glory, I will glory the things which concern mine infirmities. the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. In Damascus, the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of Damascus with a garrison desiring to apprehend me, and through a window in a basket I was let down by the wall and escaped his hand. May the Lord add his blessing to his most precious, precious word. Let's sing again, shall we? It's hymn number 590. O great and mysterious God unknown, whose love hath gently led me on, and from my infant days my inmost soul exposed a view, and tell me if I ever knew thy justifying grace. Number 590. And tell me if I ever knew the trust in God. And followed with a constant cheer Thy ruins from above. ♪ The Father breaks this vow ♪ ♪ And let my sprinkled conscience bow ♪ ♪ Thy sweet forgiving love ♪ ♪ For all my love I could not stop ♪ ♪ A stranger to the gospel ♪ again. I would not, Lord, my soul retrieve, Without thee in earth, great and near, That for days' love of man And should I not in faith draw nigh, And only have a thought of thine, O tear of strength my heart may love, O sin of righteousness renew, My heart of unliving promise, and now absolve me from my sins, and take them all away. and to thy inmost soul make known how merciful thou art. The secret of thy love prevail, and by thy talent spirit dwell. Let's come together to the throne of grace, let's pray together. Our dear and gracious Lord and heavenly Father, we do indeed thank you once again that we come together as a body of your people, that we become united in our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we trust we can become united in prayer before the throne of grace as we pray in his most precious and wonderful name. Thank you for the wonderful blessing of salvation. Thank you, Lord, it's solid and sure and sound and eternal. We thank you, Lord, that once said, Lord, we can never be lost, that no one can pluck us out of the Father's hand. Thank you for the security that we have as believers. May we indeed know your enabling grace and rich mercy upon us. each and every one this evening. Thank you, Lord, for this Lord's Day. Lord, they are come along one in every second. They we do treasure and thank you for them. That we can put aside the cares and concerns of everyday issues and concentrate on serving and worshipping your with our great God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you, Lord, for the privilege that we have. Lord, there are many, many things that could keep us away from this fellowship here this evening. But Lord, in your goodness and mercy, you put the desire within our hearts to be here. Lord, there are many that could be here but are not here for different reasons. Do be with them wherever they are and help them to remind them that this is the Lord's day. and that they indeed is a day of worship and praise to our sovereign God. Do help and encourage those, Lord, in this fellowship who have concerns of health at this time. Do be very, very close to them. Do help them. Do enable them. Do strengthen them. When the dates come and the fears come, May the Holy Spirit himself minister to them in such a wonderful, wonderful way that they may know the gentle blessing of the Saviour. And we do pray, Lord, for those involved with ministry or those involved in treatment this coming week. Please, Lord, would you comfort them and help them and enable them. And we do commend it to you, Lord, and commend them to you. Lord, we do thank you, Lord, for many blessings that we have and Lord we know as we get older parts of our bodies begin to wear out and Lord things are much more difficult, more difficult to get around and just thank you Lord for all that we have been able to do, all that we are able to do and we trust in your enabling grace that all we will be able to do. Thank you Lord that there is always a work for Jesus that only you can do. And we pray, Lord, you'd help us as our circumstances change, that you would guide and lead us into areas where we can serve you appropriately and fully. Because, Lord, that is our desire. We desire to be useful in the Kingdom of God. We desire, Lord, to be grateful for all that the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. And we do indeed commend, Lord, bearing another to you, as we would seek to have the ministry of helps and encouragement. May be we those who encourage one another, that we may indeed know that help and encouragement from them in turn, when it is needed. And we just praise and thank you, Lord, for every blessing that it is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray this morning for our persecuted church and we would pray for them this evening. Do help them and encourage them wherever they may be, that they may know your enabling grace and blessing as they seek to worship you, Lord, in the spirit and in truth. May they indeed be protected from the enemies of the gospel and we pray, Lord, for many of these enemies of the gospel to be converted. We pray, Lord, for our own nation, godless and and Christless and teetering on all sorts of unsteady foundations. Again, Lord, we pray you would have mercy upon our land, that you would raise up men to preach the word of God faithfully from the pulpit and indeed in the open air, and that, Lord, in your goodness and mercy, you would draw many men, women, boys and girls to yourself. that you would grant many repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that many would become saved. Do indeed, please, Lord, help and encourage us and enable this happen on our land, where we can be of some help, some word here, some word there. We pray, Lord, you would grant us and give us those opportunities that we so desire. Do bless and encourage, Lord, the word of God as it is preached this evening. And then, Lord, as we meet together around the table, we remember again the Lord's death in his appointed way, the reminder of a broken body and the reminder of shed blood and the enormous cost of our salvation. Do pray, Lord, and thank you for these opportunities. And we are very much aware that we are to do this until he come. And one day there will be the last Lord's Supper somewhere in this world. And then the end will come. And all we could pray, Lord, is come Lord Jesus. And we long for that day when the Lord Jesus Christ will come again in glory and wonder and splendor. And that those of us who are down here will be raised to meet Him in the saints of the air and be forever with the Lord. Do undertake and keep us, Lord, secure in these wonderful, wonderful truths. and we ask your rich blessing upon us now as we continue together in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our next hymn is number 572. Dear Saviour, thou art mine. How sweet the thought of thee to me. Let me repeat thy name and lift my heart to thee. ♪ All to Thee ♪ ♪ Let me repeat Thy Name ♪ ♪ And lift my heart to Thee ♪ ♪ Thine, Thine, Thine ♪ ♪ I know Thou art worthy ♪ ♪ Savior, dear Savior ♪ ♪ Of the sinner's prayer ♪ ♪ So I thy friendship pay ♪ ♪ The sinner's hate my grace ♪ ♪ When thy sweet message came ♪ ♪ I, I, I, I know thee well ♪ Saviour, dear Saviour, my God, Thou art mine. My heart and heart was touched by a calming voice I heard, and joy and peace Dear Savior, I know Thou art mine. So let me sing Thy praise, so let me call Thee Thine. Savior, dear Savior, my God, Thou art mine. tried to undermine his ministry. Now he's going to respond to them and the Corinthian church giving details, if you like, of Paul's qualifications, both natural and acquired. They pause not being foolish has been jeered at for being a fool. We read it there, don't we? I say again, let no man think me a fool. But what better thing than to be a fool for Christ? I think it's the other side of it. passage is this, Paul exposes the disgusting vanity of the false apostles. Paul exposes the disgusting vanity of the false apostles. There is a line between human feelings and divine inspiration. Paul really doesn't want to say these things but he must defend his apostleship. And there are times when we have to defend, perhaps when there are false accusations made. And there have been instances in the previous year of how people have been sacked from their jobs because they don't agree with a particular modern way of living. Churches have been thrown out of These people have been taken to court and have been found to be in the wrong. There is a place where we must defend ourselves, church, gospel and so on. We have to of course be very wary and have much wisdom, hey this is done. Christians are not supposed to boast. But sometimes, as I say, there is the need to be vindicated. But in do so doing, there is a great need to be so wise, to ask the Lord for wisdom when we seek to go To Him, the Lord Jesus Christ is everything. And we need to apply that principle to ourselves. That Christ is our Lord, He is our Saviour, He is the Second Person of the Trinity. Surely it must jar on our nerves when we hear people use Him as a particular name. There is a place for reminding people who the Lord Jesus Christ is and a curse today will be condemnation tomorrow. In verse 17 he says this, that which I speak, I speak it not out to the Lord, but as it were foolishly in this confidence of boasting. What Paul is saying there is that he doesn't have a specific command from the Lord to speak, but that he will speak on his own. However, what he will say and what is recorded here is not contrary to the Lord or to his word. He never boasted. And his spirit, which resides in his children today, will never lead them to boast. But we must remember that what follows is still the inspired word of God. They boasted of their descent and reputations and their works. They boasted on external and secular things. And they boasted of worldly advantages. And none of this behavior whatsoever commends a person to the Lord. Paul is almost being forced to say what he is now about to say. Verse 19, For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. In other words, what's here is fine irony. force apostles, they have so much perfect wisdom that it just won't have any effect on us because we've got it all, we know it all and do they realise what the force prophets are actually saying? and there are so many around today, aren't there? in the church, out of the church I want to be free. I don't want to be restricted. You are trapped in this freedom by drugs, alcohol, permissive behavior, and so we go on. And it is indeed a trap, and it's a very difficult one to get out of once you're hooked. It takes only really some superhuman effort, or the ministry of the Holy Spirit, to get people released. And people have allowed to die, haven't they? They've forced teachers to gain an ascendancy. If you think for a moment about the small groups in our country that create so much fear in people, Think of the fear they engender, that people dare not speak against them in public. Think of the trans group. As soon as you mention, you think of the biblical, male and female, he created them, what happens? Then comes the hate mail, the nasty emails and so on and so forth. But so small groups can affect the whole of the nation. They gain an ascendancy. They were full of pride. They had sets of rules, leaving no room for conscience or reason. They were tyrants over the people. And as we mentioned this morning, when the sun sets you free, you are free indeed. the scene where we remember the Lord's death, and yet some places have turned this into almost like a performance, into such things as transubstantiation, changing that bread into the actual body of Christ, that wine into the actual blood of Christ, and people are led to believe this, and they're chapped by it. captured by it. Their bondage, bondage of rights and services. And basically it ends up treating, these people are treating people like slaves. And people want to lord it over people. To make rules, and to make heavy penalties for those who dare stand up for freedom, or to break them. They're making so much, these fools of us, they're making so much money out of people. People who are health and wealth responsible, and they must. You never see a poor health and wealth person. Plenty of poor people in their congregations. And he goes through, doesn't he, about the various things that he's suffered here and of what he's happened. I am more laborers, more abundant in stripes above measure in prisons, more frequent in deaths off. And so he goes through that list there from 24 onwards of what's gone on. that one person could inflict on another. Of course, we have the supreme example, don't we, of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face and asked him, saying, prophesy, who is it that spoke? And it happened, of course, to Paul in Acts 23 verse 2. And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth. You go up there Ahab, God's on your side, you'll win, everything will go right. And he calls out a man of God, or a Jehoshaphat that is, insists that a prophet of the living God come, Micaiah, and he says the truth, God's word. And we read in 1 Kings 22, 24, but Zedekiah the son of Chania went near and smote Micaiah on the cheek and said, which way went the Spirit of the Lord for me to speak unto you? You see, people had debated Paul about his life, about his bodily ills, and people often do today, don't they? When such a Christian falls desperately ill, where's your God? And Paul uses words that he can also boast. Yes, he doesn't care what they think of him really, you know. He can be contemptible with their views as to his person. But what he will not put up is any contemptible ways they have towards his doctrine and his beliefs. And we've got to be prepared for that. People will attack us personally and we've got to accept them. But we must defend the gospel. We must defend the ministries that the Lord has given us. And of course, Paul acknowledges his weakness. Paul's not Superman. He went here, he went there, he saw this people saved and that person saved. But he wasn't Superman. He was flesh and blood. I find that so comforting because I find that whenever I'm confronted with a situation where I need to talk, I find much trembling. spirit of God. He doesn't believe in his own self confidence. And that's the quickest way to fall over, to do things in our own strength. And between verse 21 and verse 33, the end of the chapter, Paul demonstrates a superior ministry for his superior ancestry and his superior apostleship. Paul suffered bodily for the gospel. Paul suffered mentally for the gospel. Paul went through much pain for the gospel. Paul went through many perils for the gospel. But he also tells us in verse 23, 2, that he's a Hebrew. He challenges the false teachers. Do you speak the Hebrew language? There's no doubt that Paul is an Israelite. He's descended from Jacob, not from Esau. He's not a proselyte, but he's a Hebrew of the Hebrews. Through his father and mother he can trace his genealogy through to the tribe of Benjamin. What a pedigree! He was Hebrew by descent and Israelite by privilege. The seed of Abraham in respect to so many of the promised blessings. In no area at all, in no point did Paul lack behind any of his opponents. And the question he's asking, Are these folks and apostles ministers or merely professors? You see, ministers, today we would call them pastors and elders, are first and foremost servants. They're not there to be served, they're there to serve in the calling which God has given them. And this argument that Paul has having here has almost been forced on him. Paul had a high calling, because it was the Lord that put it in the ministry, he didn't put it in himself. I remember he was on the way to Damascus to sort the church out, and the Lord intervened on that dramatic road. and changed his life forever when he encountered the Lord Jesus Christ. And he did, as I say, he goes through this list of what he went through in the cause of the gospel. He suffered much persecution for the Lord. but he spent a lot of time traveling. Remember what happened in Philippi, he was beaten by the people he tried to reach, didn't he? We read in Acts 16, 22, and the multitude rose up together against them. The magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many strikes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. He'd been put in prison. And of course he had that long imprisonment in Rome, which is fine described in Acts chapter 28. And he's asking the question, how many times in prison have the false apostles been in? Probably none at all. But Paul was often in great danger, wasn't he? We read in Acts 14 verse 19, And there there came certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. And he says this in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 31, I protest by your rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. Paul would compare his missionary service with anyone. It talks there about how he, in verse 24, in June, five times received I forty stripes. These stripes were a particularly Jewish punishment, and the number of the stripes is sanctioned by law, and we read of that if we wish to in Deuteronomy The highest number to be administered was 39, 40 minus 1. There are two ways that we thing would be there would be three cords to the width and each cord came to one stroke, thus making a total of thirteen strokes. Whichever one it was or even it may have been something else, one thing one can be sure of, it was extremely painful. Once I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, and a night and a day I have beaten the deep." That describes a punishment given by the Romans, and that was of course what we read of earlier, which happened to Paul and Silas in Philippi. The other name for that punishment was called scourging. And Paul was also stoned at Lystra. He was shipwrecked three times. He gives a graphic account of one of these events where he clung onto a plank of wood or raft to survive. He did lots of travelling in difficult places. He crossed turbulent rivers and risked attack from bandits and robbers. read in Acts 23 verse 12. And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed all. He was also, of course, in danger from non-Jewish peoples as well. There was danger to the cities of Jerusalem, Damascus, Ephesus. When traveling in the wilderness, He endured the extremes of the heat and the cold and the threat of wild animals. He was in danger. He was in danger on the seas through various voyages that he undertook. He was also under the threat of spies and apostates. He speaks of the day Spent times of hunger when there was no food available. He would fast, remember, a paltry exercise, as opposed to hunger and want. He was often cold, very little of what to keep him warm. He also suffered other troubles and all these perils were but little to him when it came to the divine task of preaching the gospel and setting up churches. If I must need glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knowing that I am God. He carried a daily burden of anxiety for the churches that he had been involved with. So we have a burden for our churches. We are in danger, aren't we? We're all quite small, and in the main, quite elderly. And the number of us are not well. And this is the gospel cause and function. Do we have a burden, the church? Do we have a burden to be at the services of the Lord on the Lord's day? A burden to be at the prayer meeting? A burden to the fellowship of the Lord's people? You see, Paul claims no exception from the ills that befall. This shouldn't happen to me. or another throughout the world. You see, he does sympathize, doesn't he, in verse 29, who is weak and I am not weak, who is offended and I burn not. He sympathizes so much with those under persecution, he would understand what our brothers and sisters are going through tonight, let's say in Saudi Arabia. by Atmar. Wherever there is persecution, he would know what they're going through. And like him, we need to ask the Lord, and I really include myself in this, to have true Christian compassion for every member of our fellowships. And then to obviously move it out, You see, what Paul will boast of, and this is what, what has the Lord done for him? That's something that we can say, not use the word boast, but something that we can proclaim. What has the Lord done for me? How he saved me and blessed me and encouraged me in so many Paul is a wonderful example of the wonderful things that Christ can do through such a feeble servant. Doesn't that encourage you? We're all feeble servants of the Lord. hope for us, because the Lord will use us and enable us. And that's what Paul does, he glories in how the Lord is sustained. And Paul appeals to the Lord for the truth that he asserts. He says in 2 Corinthians 5.10, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body. According to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. And he had the assurance of the knowledge of God in his heart. And we must be absolutely sure of our own standing before the Lord when we seek to speak out the Gospel to whosoever we have the opportunity to. When we proclaim God's Word, Remember what happened to him. Here he was going to Damascus. He wanted to find people there, men and women who were followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wanted to bane them up, drag them along to Jerusalem and therefore get them punished. But then suddenly he met the Lord. And then he had the encounter with Ananias, the brother Saul. what that must have meant to him. Two words. What an encouragement. Brother Saul. And then, of course, we know that he was preaching, wasn't he? And then the Jews there in Damascus, they decided they wanted to kill him. But we know, don't we, the end of the chapter says that he ran through a window in a basket, was let down by the wall, and escaped. The Lord was so good, the Lord had such a presence in Paul, that he enabled him to escape the pestilence. He enabled him to survive the shipwrecks, he enabled him to survive the beatings and the stonings and all that. But there did come a time when Paul had to face the ultimate price, and he was killed under the reign of the hero at a particular time, when the Lord had said, He then went through Tindinot all that time, and we read in Galatians how he went to Arabia and other places. We read in verse 32 of this, Peretus the king, perhaps you'll be interested to know that he was a king of the Nabataean Arabs who held sway over the city of Damascus. and how he was influenced to apprehend Paul. But the Lord intervened, as you say, and allowed Paul to escape. Paul's time for execution would come, but it wouldn't be in Damascus. It would be in the future, in Rome. And that's another thing that we can be aware of. We will have to wait until our service for Christ Whether it be one day, or a hundred days, or years. There is a day, we won't add one minute on, we won't take one minute off. But until then, we are immortal. Whatever the enemies send against us, the Lord will enable us to continue. As I say, we cannot add a moment onto our lives and we cannot take a moment off. And surely, like the Apostle Paul, we will never have to go through what he went through. But what we can do is, like the Apostle Paul, follow his example and rest assured in the Lord, and then be available for the Lord's service. some sacrifice, and perhaps, who knows, a naïve means of suffering. But may the Lord enable us to be faithful in these days which he has put us through. Let's sing, shall we, our last hymn. Hymn number 807. justifies their souls, and mercy like a mighty string for all their sins divinely rolls. And I'll see like a mighty stream For all the saints here I'll play along. We all love the saints in heaven, His Christ hath suffered in this day, And in salvation through forbear, With hope in Christ is stronger. He lives, He lives, and sits above, forever in the Savior's love. He shall divide us from His love, for what should tempt us to Illusion or distress, family or soul or native place, He that hath loved us makes us true, and brings us forth and forth from sin. Faith has an earthly heart, In triumph's eternal dying art. From his eye, the hope of joy, No catapult can destroy. So that Canaanite can do, the passion and the complete love. John calls his mercies to return, knowing how much from Christ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath forgotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and underfiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though nay for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. May the Lord help and encourage us, each one of us, in our walk with him. And as we come, nay, Lord, to have this time of remembrance, we pray, Lord, you would richly bless the bread that is before us, the wine that is set before us, as we remember the broken body of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray, Lord, you would richly bless and enable us through this very precious time that we now will spend together around the table. We ask this in the most precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.