I'd like to welcome Sunday School to the service today. Just before we come to the message, I must say a few words about the Sunday School excursion yesterday. Yesterday, the Sabbath School had their first outing for three years. Now, these past years have seemed long, but I think particularly they have been long for the young children. Some will not have remembered having an excursion, and for some it was their very first. Excursion. So it was very exciting for lots of little ones yesterday morning as we made our journey up through the Clocker Valley on two very comfortable TransLink coaches. Our first stop was the Donald Ice Bowl where skills were demonstrated in the putting greens, the bowling alley, and for the really adventurous, the ice rink. And some took a tumble there as well. The youngest children had great fun in the indoor soft play adventure area while mums and dads had a good chat. Our journey then took us to Crawfordsburn Country Park for a picnic and some sports. The weather was gorgeous and went over the hill at Crawfordsburn to the sea. The sight of the waves and the bright blue sky, well it was quite stunning and we all really appreciated that. We then took a trip into Bangor to enjoy the seafront, and I think most people got a wee ice cream. A few slept, and not just the children. I might add, there was a couple of old men near me, and they had a good sleep on the journey back to the Kohanan Inn, where we had a beautiful meal. One little boy kept giving me pictures, and he spent his time traveling drawing me these personal pictures. And I must say, it was very nice, and I will keep them. So I thank that little boy for that. And there was another group of little boys just as we were making our last leg of the journey, and I was chatting to them. I says, what was your best thing about today? And they told me all the different things. They did, but the best thing was the food and the ice cream, and they said they really enjoyed that. I know that the Sunday School appreciate the church providing an excursion. It's an investment in the future. The fellowship and friendship is invaluable, and it really is good to see life returning to some normality, and we give God the praise for all of that. Let's turn in the Scriptures to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 17. Deuteronomy chapter 17. In the verses 18 and 19 we read, And it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, this is the king, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them. Amen. And we know God will bless His word to our hearts. Today, I want to talk to you about the Queen's Coronation Bible. The British monarchy is steeped in history and tradition. The trappings of power and prestige associated with the crown stretch back in time more than 1,000 years. As my history and politics teacher at A-level at Corain Institute used to say about the British monarchy, it's the Rolls-Royce of monarchies, the envy of the world. While we see something of this sense of history at various times during the year, such as at the state opening of Parliament, it is particularly at a coronation. And our Queen was crowned in 1953. She was crowned the following year after her father passed away and she became Queen. And it is at a coronation that the world witnesses the aura, the mystique, and the majesty of the monarchy. From a Christian perspective, what interests me especially today, however, is the influence of the Scriptures, of the church, of Protestantism upon our constitution and upon our nation. And we can see this worked out during a coronation. For example, there's many parts of a coronation ceremony that have a very strong biblical and Christian influence. It is primarily a worship service. A coronation of a British king or queen is not a political event. It's not really properly a state event either. It is a state event, but at its heart. It's a worship service in the presence of God. It's a spiritual event. And Our Queen was anointed with oil, representing the need of the Holy Spirit. Our Queen received a golden orb, and that represents the fact that Christ is the greatest King. The orb represents the world, and there's a cross on the orb. Christ is the King over all of the world. She received a rod with a dove. and the rod represents justice and the dove represents mercy and we can see the gospel in that. The vows that the queen made with regard to the gospel are most illuminating. Particularly the vow, will you to the utmost of your power maintain the laws of God and the true profession of the gospel. And of course she made that vow on behalf of all of the governments who served under her. And that's a very solemn thing when you think of the iniquity that the governments that have served under the Queen, the iniquities that they have perpetrated and brought upon our nation, and the moral decline that we have seen over these past 70 years. And the Queen made that vow on behalf of those governments. And God will hold Boris Johnson and all of those other prime ministers who brought such iniquity upon our nation, He'll hold them to account. Because there was a vow made in the presence of God by the one who is the head of state, will you to the utmost of your power maintain the laws of God and the true profession of the gospel? And that's something that should make us all tremble for the future of our nation. But what we're going to think about today is the Bible that the Queen was presented with. And there in that image you can see a copy of the Bible that she was presented with. At that time, Oxford University Press was commissioned to print 25 coronation Bibles. Two were specially bound. Number one was presented to the Queen, and that is retained at Lambeth Palace, the official home of the Archbishop of Canterbury. And number two, that's the one that you see there, forms part of the Royal Collection. The first of the Coronation Bibles was used in the coronation when the Archbishop of Canterbury administered the oath. And when the Queen made the oath, she knelt on the altar step, she laid her right hand on the Bible, she said, the things which I have here before promised I will perform and keep, so help me God. She kissed the Bible, she signed the oath. And then the Bible was given to her. And what is very interesting about the presentation of the Bible The presentation of the Bible during the coronation of a British king or queen goes back to King William III, Prince of Orange. They were the first monarchs to receive an official presentation of God's Word in this way at a coronation, and they received their coronation Bible in 1689. In 1953, it was presented jointly by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. And what is particularly significant are the words that Her Majesty heard when she was presented with the Scriptures, and the words are very biblical words, and it's these words I want to draw your attention to today. Our gracious queen, to keep your majesty ever mindful of the law and the gospel of God as the rule for the whole life and government of Christian princes, we present you with this book, the most valuable thing that this world affords. Here is wisdom. This is the royal law. These are the lively oracles of God. And when the children and young people receive their Platinum Jubilee Bibles today, I would encourage you to read the page at the front, because the page at the front gives you these very words, the words that our Queen heard concerning the Scriptures when The Bible was presented to her at her coronation. So let's think about the Queen's Coronation Bible and what lessons that we can learn from this. First of all, let's think about the purpose of the Bible. Our Queen was told, our gracious Queen, to keep your majesty ever mindful of the law and the gospel of God as the rule for the whole life and government of Christian princes, We present you with this book, and there you have the purpose of the Bible. It's a rule for the whole life, and that's for you and for me, the whole life, for every individual. It's a rule for the whole life, and it's a rule for the government of Christian principles. Everything that all of us need for life is found in the Word of God. So, what is so amazing about this book that it gives us everything that we need for life, and it gives us everything that we need for even the very government of a nation? Well, first of all, the Bible fulfills this purpose because it gives us an understanding of the world and of the universe. We cannot begin to understand life until we see that God is the Creator, that He made all things, that He fashioned all things. that He is the one who rules in all majesty over the entire universe, and there is nothing that He has not made, there is nothing that He does not plan, that He is in absolute control in the beginning God. And the whole universe is the product of His genius. And if we do not believe Genesis 1 verse 1, then we believe nothing that is found in the book. The Bible gives the true understanding of the world. The Bible gives us an understanding of who we are, that we are a people made in the very image of God, that we are spiritual creatures, that we are accountable to our Creator, that God has put us here for a reason, and that reason is to do His pleasure and to live out His will. We only know who we are whenever we think of the Scriptures, but then whenever we look at the Bible, we discover, yes, God made all things. We discover that man is made in the image of God, and then we discover that we are sinners. We cannot live out God's purpose. We cannot do God's will. We break God's law. We discover what's wrong with the world is what's wrong with me, that I'm a sinner before God. that this world is suffering from the curse of God because sin and death have come into the world of mankind. And fundamentally, if governments is to address what is wrong with society, it is the sin question that must be addressed. And the Bible shines a light upon this purpose, how the sin question can be addressed. Whenever we look at the Bible and discover its purpose, we discover that our Creator has fashioned us with a system of ethics and morality for our good. And that system of ethics and morality, well, it is contained, summarized within the Ten Commandments. But the Ten Commandments aren't just about what we do and what we say. It's about what we shouldn't do, what we shouldn't say. It's about how we should keep the Lord's day. It's about how we should worship the one God. It's about how we should treat our God, it's about how we should treat our fellow man. And true government and true society must be based upon God's system. And when man departs from God's system, there is trouble and there are problems. But yet, man, those depart from God's system. We all do individually, governments do, the world does, because we live in a sinful world, we live in a corrupt world. And so ultimately, if God's purpose for Christian princes is to be accomplished, if God's purpose for governments is to be accomplished, if God's purpose for you and me is to be accomplished, then we need to be redeemed. And we need to be redeemed with the precious blood of God's dear Son, and at the heart of the whole message of the Bible, God's purpose for mankind is the great message of Jesus Christ. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus come into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. And the Christian faith needs to be at the heart of a nation. The Bible says, "'Blessed is that people whose God is the Lord.'" Proverbs 14, 35 says, "'Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.'" But ultimately, that righteousness must be the righteousness of the gospel. If one thing that we should pray for at this time would be that God would work again in our nation, that there would be a revival of righteousness, a turning to Christ, that the evangel would be unfurled, the Holy Spirit would be poured out, that souls would come to Christ, in their thousands, in their tens of thousands, in their hundreds of thousands, if that alone is what will save this nation. The glory of the gospel is the purpose of the scripture. Has the glory of the gospel been fulfilled in your life? Do you know the Lord is your Savior? Have you given your whole heart to Him? Are you trusting Him today? Secondly, let's think about the preciousness of the Bible. It is remarkable words, the words that the queen heard whenever the scriptures were presented to her on that notable occasion. The scripture, the Bible was described as the most valuable thing that the world affords. Incredible words. The most valuable thing that the world affords. Whenever Her Majesty's namesake, Queen Elizabeth I, it is an amazing testimony that in all of the history of our nation, the three longest reigns have been the reigns of queens. And those three queens have been noted greatly for their faith. And Queen Elizabeth I is the first of that illustrious trio. And whenever Queen Elizabeth I became queen, she became queen after dark, dark years. Her half-sister, Queen Mary, known as Bloody Mary, said it as her ambition to destroy Protestantism, and she destroyed good people. She had good people, godly people, burnt to death simply because they refused to go to Mass. That was their only crime. And her emissaries went throughout the length and breadth of England to seek out people to be burned to death. Those were dark, dark years. And then Queen Elizabeth came to the throne after the death of her sister. And after she was crowned, she was seen going through the streets carrying a copy of the Scriptures. And that was very significant because that was a sign to the nation that country would be returning to the Word of God. She regarded it as a precious book. And then we have Queen Victoria, the second of that illustrious trio of and the National Portrait Gallery, which is just off Trafalgar Square in London. I think it's closed at the present time for refurbishment, but if you ever get to London and you have a chance to visit the National Portrait Gallery, I would encourage you to do that. It's free to enter and you see the portraits of the great and the good in our history, but you also see the history of our nation there in the forms of these portraits. And there is there a portrait of Queen Victoria by Thomas Jones Barker. And she is meeting a dignitary from India. And it is said the question was asked of her on one occasion. And this was what influenced Thomas Jones Barker to draw the painting. The question was asked of Queen Victoria on one occasion. She was quite a young queen. What is the secret of England's greatness? What is the secret? She said, it is, it is the word of God. And there is a painting teaching that very lesson. The secret of England's greatness is the word of God. It's the most valuable thing that the world affords. And not just for a nation, but for our lives. If we build our lives upon the word of God, we're building our lives on a firm foundation. We have to regard this as a precious book. The psalmist wrote in the Psalm 19 that the Scriptures are more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold. It's a treasure trove. But treasure has to be mined. Gold has to be mined. It doesn't come easily. Hard work goes into producing the gold, finding the gold, purifying the gold. And the Scriptures are a gold mine. And we have to dig down into the Word. meditate upon it, turn it over in our minds, ask the questions. What does this mean? What does this verse mean? What does this truth mean? And then having discovered what it means, we have to ask ourselves the question, what does it mean to me? And our lives will always be the richer whenever we spend our time becoming familiar with the word of God. the preciousness of the Bible. What a precious book it is. But then finally, I want to talk to you about the preeminence of the Bible. Our queen was told, here is wisdom. As she was presented with the Scripture, she was told, here is wisdom. And therein there is instruction. The Word of God give us wisdom. We ask ourselves the question, what is wisdom? How can I discover what wisdom is? How can I be wise? We get into the Word, and we look for the truth of the Word, and we look for its application to ourselves in the here and now. In Proverbs 22, verse 6, we are told, train up a child in the way which he shall go. When he is old, he will not depart from it. Herein is wisdom. Wisdom for the family. Wisdom for the church. Wisdom for the child. Wisdom for the adult. Herein is wisdom. Are we truly wise or are we living as fools? Are we putting the word of God before us? Here is wisdom. And then she heard the words, this is the royal law. And here there is instruction as well. And that, you know, is based upon the words of James. And in the epistle of James chapter 2, in the epistle of James in chapter 2 and the verse 8, we are told, if ye fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. So if we're fulfilling the royal law, we're loving our neighbor as ourselves. And that affects how we relate to each other. We're all each other's neighbors. And do we love our neighbors as ourselves? Have we that sense of self-sacrifice? That's the royal law. That's what we are commanded to by God himself. You know, these are not things that a preacher tells you because he has in some way contrived them out of his own mind. This is what God is saying. This is what God is saying. And you know, we might say it's wonderful, the Protestant monarchy, Protestant faith, Protestant church, But are we living out the book? We might say the Bible's precious, but do we follow its truth? Are we following that moral, that royal law? And then, finally, as we think about the preeminence of the Bible, our Queen was told that the Scriptures are inspired. She wasn't just told the words of instruction, she was told the words of inspiration. because she heard the words, these are the lively oracles of God. And that, you know, entirely and completely is biblical language. Those who first come up with the wording were godly men, men who understood truth. I have no doubt about that. And the language of the King James Version as well, these are the lively oracles of God. And that reminds me so much of 2 Timothy chapter 3 and the verse 16. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. All structure is given by inspiration of God, and the word inspiration, it refers to the Bible being the very breath of God. God breathes out, lively. It's a living Word. God never dies. His Word never dies. Christ said, heaven and earth will pass away. My Word will never pass away. Christians, they lived and they worked in civilizations, civilizations that have passed away. One of the great centers of Christian witness in the first 400 years of Christianity was Carthage and what is now Tunisia and North Africa. And the old city of Carthage, it's gone completely. There's nothing there. It was eventually destroyed by the Muslims in the seventh century. But that was a center of Christianity. It was a center of theology. It was a center of evangelism. And there was many, many churches throughout that whole area. And then the whole civilization just passed away, disappeared from seeing. But the truth that those people lived for and served is still there. The Bible never dies, the truth never dies. You know, whenever we live for God's word, we live for something that will never pass away. This nation of which we are a part, it could disappear, be gone from history forever. But the great king that we serve, he'll never die. His truth will go marching on from generation to generation as he oversees the development of nations. The lively oracles of God The preeminence of the scriptures is the preeminence of God himself. So yes, we have a precious book. Let's love it, read it, follow it, obey it, give ourselves to it. It is the most valuable thing that the world affords. Let us bow for prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you for your word, right up on every heart. In the savior's name, amen.