Waiting on Him by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

To the first question about the power of God, [Habakkuk] received a positive answer. But this problem of the holiness of God is more difficult. After stating his absolutes and bringing his problem into this context, there is still no clear answer. Now in experience it is often like that. You apply the same method which has worked so well in other cases, but there is no immediate answer. What does one do in such a case? Certainly do not rush to conclusions and say, ‘Because I do not understand it therefore I wonder whether God is righteous after all.’ No! . . . We make a mistake when we talk to ourselves and then to other people, and ask, ‘Why this? Isn’t it strange?’ We must do what the prophet did: take the problem to God and leave it with Him. A Christian may be kept in this position for a week, or months, or years. It has often so happened. But leave it with God! This . . . was the attitude adopted by the Son of God Himself when He was in this world. . . . He knew that His Father could have delivered Him out of the hands, not only of the Jews, but of the Romans also. . . . But if He was to be made sin, and sin was to be punished in His body, it meant that He must be separated from the Father . . . and the Son of God was faced with the greatest perplexity of His human life on earth . . . what did He do? Precisely what the prophet did; He prayed and said, ‘O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt’ (Matthew 26:39). ‘I do not understand it’, He said in effect, ‘but if it is Thy way, very well, I am going on.’ He took the problem He did not understand to God and left it there . . . confident that God’s will is always right, and that a holy God will never command anything that is wrong.

Reprinted with permission from A First Book of Daily Readings from the Works of Martyn Lloyd-Jones by Martyn Lloyd-Jones, selected by Frank Cumbers (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan; www.eerdmans.com; December 1983; ISBN 0-8028-1354-2) pg. 101.

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First Church of Merrimack, NH A Member Congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Founded 1771

January 10, 2021 6:00 pm Worship Service

7 Baboosic Lake Road / P.O. Box 507 Merrimack, New Hampshire 03054

603-424-3947 / 603-424-3133 www.firstchurchofmerrimack.org

Rev. Dr. Allen C. Tomlinson, Pastor pastorallen@firstchurchofmerrimack.org

Mr. Damon Young, Ministerial Licentiate damon.young@firstchurchofmerrimack.org

Apostolic Greeting Pastor Allen Tomlinson

Call to Worship Psalm 136:1-3

“Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. 2 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever. 3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever.”

Prayer of Invocation

*Hymn #215 (Page 7) “Give to Our God Immortal Praise”

Confessional Reading (Below) Canons of Dort, lII, IV. 9-10 Human Corruption, Conversion to God, and the Way It Occurs

Article 9: Human Responsibility for Rejecting the Gospel

The fact that many who are called through the ministry of the gospel do not come and are not brought to conversion must not be blamed on the gospel, nor on Christ, who is offered through the gospel, nor on God, who calls them through the gospel and even bestows various gifts on them, but on the people themselves who are called. Some in self-assurance do not even entertain the Word of life; others do entertain it but do not take it to heart, and for that reason, after the fleeting joy of a temporary faith, they relapse; others choke the seed of the Word with the thorns of life’s cares and with the pleasures of the world and bring forth no fruits. This our Savior teaches in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13).

Article 10: Conversion as the Work of God

The fact that others who are called through the ministry of the gospel do come and are brought to conversion must not be credited to man, as though one distinguishes himself by free choice from others who are furnished with equal or sufficient grace for faith and conversion (as the proud heresy of Pelagius

* Please stand, if able *

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maintains). No, it must be credited to God: just as from eternity he chose his own in Christ, so within time he effectively calls them, grants them faith and repentance, and, having rescued them from the dominion of darkness, brings them into the kingdom of his Son, in order that they may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called them out of darkness into this marvelous light, and may boast not in themselves, but in the Lord, as apostolic words frequently testify in Scripture.

*Psalm #9 B (Pages 8 & 9) “Wholehearted Thanksgiving”

Prayer of Illumination

Old Testament Reading (Below) Ezekiel 25

1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them. 3 Say to the Ammonites, ‘Hear the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you said, ‘Aha!’ against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into captivity, 4 indeed, therefore, I will deliver you as a possession to the men of the East, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you; they shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. 5 And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels and Ammon a resting place for flocks. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.” 6 ‘For thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced in heart with all your disdain for the land of Israel, 7 indeed, therefore, I will stretch out My hand against you, and give you as plunder to the nations; I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish from the countries; I will destroy you, and you shall know that I am the LORD.”

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8 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because Moab and Seir say, ‘Look! The house of Judah is like all the nations,’ 9 therefore, behold, I will clear the territory of Moab of cities, of the cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kirjathaim. 10 To the men of the East I will give it as a possession, together with the Ammonites, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations. 11 And I will execute judgments upon Moab, and they shall know that I am the LORD.” 12 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because of what Edom did against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended by avenging itself on them,” 13 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “I will also stretch out My hand against Edom, cut off man and beast from it, and make it desolate from Teman; Dedan shall fall by the sword. 14 I will lay My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel, that they may do in Edom according to My anger and according to My fury; and they shall know My vengeance,” says the Lord GOD. 15 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because the Philistines dealt vengefully and took vengeance with a spiteful heart, to destroy because of the old hatred,” 16 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant of the seacoast. 17 I will execute great vengeance on them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I lay My vengeance upon them.” ’ ”

New Testament Reading (Below) Romans 6:14; 7:1-6

6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace….

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7:1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? 2 For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. 3 So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. 4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. 6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

Congregational “Amen!”

Sermon “Under Grace: Married to Another” Ministerial Licentiate Damon Young, Preaching

Prayer of Confession of Sin (Below)

Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from Your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against Your holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done; and apart from your grace, there is no health in us. O Lord, have mercy upon us.

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Spare all those who confess their faults. Restore all those who are penitent, according to your promises declared to all people in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may now live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of your holy Name. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon (Below) Romans 8:1

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”

*Psalm #45 B (Page 11) “My Heart Does Overflow”

The Lord’s Supper The Lord’s Prayer

*Benediction

*The Doxology (Below)

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heav’nly hosts: Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.

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Wholehearted Thanksgiving (Continued)

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UNDER GRACE: MARRIED TO ANOTHER Romans 6:14; 7:1-6

Ministerial Licentiate Damon Young, Preaching

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