I'd like to give you all a warm
welcome to our worship here this morning. Let us come before the
Lord, let us ask his blessing in prayer. O Lord God of heaven
and of earth, we come into thine earthly courts and we do thank
thee for the blessing of doing so. We pray for thy blessing
here and those that join with us online. We do seek, Lord,
that thou wouldst communicate to us that fullness in our Lord
and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and do bless us with thy grace and
bless us with thy word. Help us to sing thy worthy praise. We ask, Lord, this through thy
name, Lord Jesus. Amen. Hymn, 567. Tune, Hillborough 157. Let us read together this morning
from the Holy Word of God, Paul's epistle to the Ephesians, and
chapter 2. If you have one of our free Bibles,
that is page 1087. Ephesians chapter 2. and you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation
in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages
to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us, through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained,
that we should walk in them. Wherefore remember that ye being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ
Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath
made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of petition
between us. having abolished in his flesh
the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for
to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace, and
that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to
you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through
him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore, ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints,
and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself, being the
chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are
builded together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit. Lord, bless to us that reading
of his holy word and help us as we come before him in prayer. Let us pray. O Thou most merciful
and gracious, loving Heavenly Father, we come before Thee through
our Lord Jesus Christ and seek, Lord, those blessings that Thou
hast to give that are found in Thy beloved Son. Lord, we thank
Thee for the fullness that is in him and we do pray that we
might Each one of us be able to say that we have received
of that fullness. Lord, do grant unto us not only
oil, but oil in our vessels with our lamps, that we might know
the source, that we might be united to Thee, the living vine,
that we might be receiving that sap and that life from the root. O Lord, we do seek of Thee as
we gather in Thy courts. Lord, we gather for worship,
but we know that that which is acceptable to Thee comes from
Thee, and we give unto Thee what we have received at first. And
Lord, if Thou hast made us any different than what we were born,
It is all of Thy grace, and we do thank Thee for it. We do beg
of Thee that help for each one in whom Thou hast given life. Lord, Thou knowest the struggles
that go on within, and the opposition that we have from the world,
from Satan, from our flesh. And Lord, how hard it is oftentimes
to come to Thy word, to come to prayer, Lord, when we do,
it is so often with an adversary that comes and would draw us
away, would bring us into thinking of something different and turning
our thoughts some other way and having concerns of things that
really are of no great weight at all. Oh Lord, we notice so
often those things that we do that are not spiritual, we do
not have opposition in them. But those things, when we come
to approach unto thee, then we have that opposition. And so,
Lord, do help each of those who desire to serve thee, to follow
thee, to heed thy commandments and thy ways, to use the means
of grace. Remember each one in those struggles
that they have, in the difficulties that they have. Oh Lord, do help
those that would say when we would do good, evil is present
with us. And the evil that we would not,
that we do. Oh Lord, do be pleased to give
that strength and that help and deliver us and save us. Lord,
leave us not to be deceived. Leave us not to come short of
thy glory. This life, is but so very short,
and soon gone, and filled with tribulation. And O Lord, deliver
us from all the deceits of our heart, deceits of Satan, that
we might serve Thee fully, that we might be filled with Thy Spirit,
that Thy Word might dwell richly in us, that we might love Thee
with all our hearts and not part, and that we might walk in Thy
ways, and that we might not be found in other ways. O Lord, do grant unto us that
we might be found in that narrow way that leadeth unto life, and
few there be that find it. O Lord, do satisfy thy poor with
bread, do feed thy people with that living bread, and do grant
that we might partake of those streams that flow forth from
Calvary. Thou hast said they shall flow
half toward the former sea, half toward the latter, half to the
Jews, half to the Gentiles. Lord, we read of those blessings
in thy word. We have read of them this morning,
but Lord, may we know that we ourselves have partaken of them. These are not just history things. They are not things written,
but they do not relate to our own lives. O Lord, do grant that
we might truly know that they do relate to us, and we have
received from Thee of Thy fullness. O Lord, do bless us then as we
gather, and Lord, do be pleased to fill this house of God with
hungering, thirsting souls. Bless us and make us a blessing
to those round about in this town. Bless those that have received
free Bibles. whether here or throughout the
UK. And where they do not have and
are not able to gather here, Lord, may they inquire where
they can gather that shall be a faithful witness and a good
church. We pray that thou has delivered
thy people from false under shepherds and those that would lead astray
from thee or give a false message. And we pray for grace that we
might speak according to thy word, and that thou hast granted
us a people also as the Bereans, even with the Apostle Paul, who
searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.
Lord, we do pray for that blessing and grace upon preacher and hearers
alike, that we might be delivered from this present world. O Lord,
we pray that we might not be, They people like Israel of old
that wanted prophets that would speak things that allowed them
to continue in sin. O Lord, save us from our adversary. Remember thy blessed name. His
name shall we call Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sins. Lord, do pour out thy spirit
in this land, this dark, benighted land, a land Often we feel to
be under thy hand and judgment, and yet will not turn unto thee. O Lord, we do beg the pouring
out of thy Spirit. Lord, do thou quicken, and may
we see and feel that difference, and to see thy grace. O Lord,
do have mercy upon us. We do seek, Lord, thy blessing
upon our churches. Lord, do build them up, do keep
us faithful to thy word. Be with each of the brethren
that gather today and whether in this land or those in Australia,
those who have already gathered, we do pray thy blessing on the
churches there and also in America and in Canada and dear friends,
brethren in Holland. We do seek that thy blessing
might be upon thy people where they are. You bless those in
our own denomination and those that have positions of responsibility. You help them, our editors, and
those that look after the charities. You pray for them. We pray, Secretary
of the Gospel Standards Trust, to grant thy kind healing and
strengthening hand for him and one raised up to help him and
to take over from him. We do pray for these things.
And Lord, that thou hast be pleased to bless thy servants that labour
this day, those who have recently started new pasturates. Lord,
do bless and establish their pasturates. And Lord, do send
forth more labourers into the harvest. But Lord, do deliver
us from those that are not truly sent. But do grant, Lord, that
there might be that real seal of thy sending and blessing. I do pray for all that are in
affliction. Lord, do sanctify, make these
things work for good, giving grace day by day, taking away
the fears, many fears that come. and do grant thy blessing upon
medication, and do raise up again to health and strength, if it
is thy will, or lengthen days, and do grant, Lord, that it might
be seen that thou and thy peace art over all this tribulation. Thou hast said, in me ye shall
have peace, in the world ye shall have tribulation. We thank Thee
that Thou hast chosen for us our tribulation. We pray for
grace to bear that which Thou hast chosen for us. O Lord, we
oft look upon another and fail to realise that Thou hast appointed
our own tribulation. And so, Lord, do be with those
that have long-term illnesses and weaknesses. Be with those,
O Lord, that walk in a path with a thorn in the flesh that shall
accompany them all their days and be with those that generally
have good health and blessing but then come into short and
sharp trials and give them grace and help in those. We commit
the week that we've entered upon unto thee to keep us, to bless
us in each assembly and gathering of thy people we commit the week
to Thee. We come confessing our many,
many sins and iniquities. Lord, wash us, cleanse us, do
grant us repentance and forgiveness of sins. Do bless us with truly
to change and turn from every wrong way, and that we might
be a people that know what that is, day by day and hour by hour. who be with our young people
and children and friends. Lord, do work in their hearts
while young and those whom thou hast given life to lead them
on to full conversion, full faith and assurance, and to put thee
on in open profession. Lord, do thou be pleased to strengthen
our churches with the generation to come in this way. Be with
our dear aged friends, do help them, be with them, Be with them
in the home. We pray for thy blessing this
afternoon at Pilgrim Home, and that thy blessing might be upon
those in Bethesda as well. Lord, do help and be with those
of thy dear people as they near their journey's end. We pray
for those that look after them and care for them, that thy blessing
might be upon them too. Now, Lord, do forgive what we
ask amiss, We thank Thee for every temporal blessing, our
food, our raiment, our warmth, our comforts, and every blessing. We pray for those that do not
have these things, those who have suffered loss in America,
whether through the airplane crash or the fires or the winds
and hurricanes, Lord, we do pray for them to comfort them and
help those have suffered in that way. And O Lord, be with those
in war-torn countries. Lord, do grant unto us that we
might oft think of those that are much worse off than ourselves. O Lord, help us then, as we gather
around thy word, shine upon it. Grant unto us that which comes
from thee, and shew it down to thine honour and glory. We ask
through thy name, Lord Jesus. Amen. Announcements, God willing, I'm
expected to preach here this evening at 6.30pm, on Thursday
at 7 o'clock, and next Lord's Day at 11am and 6.30pm. to be able to give the collection
amounts next Lord's Day as at this time the stewardship website
is down and people cannot give or we cannot see how much they
have given either. Hymn, 180. Tune, Salvator 652. Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the Gospel according to John,
chapter 1, and reading through our text, verse 16. John, chapter 1, verse 16. and of his fullness have all
we received and grace for grace. John chapter 1 verse 16. Now this is John, not the Baptist,
but John the Apostle speaking here and speaking of John, John
the Baptist and what he said, John bear witness of him and
cried, saying, This was he of whom I spoke, he that cometh
after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. And then John puts this in, and
of his fullness have all we received and grace for grace. And this is specifically what
is upon my spirit, is the way that we are to receive of what
is in the Lord Jesus Christ, of His fullness. When it speaks
here of all receiving in, It is in a natural sense, for He
is the Saviour of all men, especially of them that believe. And He
is good to all, His tender mercies are over all His works. All men
do receive of His free unmerited favour. We read that He sends
His rain upon the just and unjust, that causes His sun to shine,
whether men fear him or whether they don't. And so in that way
there is a common grace, a common receiving of the goodness of
God. But that grace is not saving. It is in a specific way of saving
grace that I want to speak this morning. But we need to remember
that we are dependent, as the Apostle says, on the Lord for
everything, for our breath. In him we live and move and have
our being. And he's speaking to those at
Athens who were idol worshipers, and he's speaking of it as to
all men. God is not only the creator,
but the sustainer of his creation. He gives us breath and He takes
it away at that appointed time. As we're thinking of receiving
from Christ, it's good for us also to begin with thinking of
what we have at the present time. When we're thinking of natural
things, if we were to be going to the shops and buying things,
then we are doing so, but we have a house over our head, we
have many things already, and we're not going there as one
that is destitute, with no money, with no home, with nothing at
all. And yet in spiritual things,
we need to remember that as we sung in our hymn, every grace
and every favour comes to us through Jesus' blood. We have
nothing of our own, we are lost and ruined in the fall, there
is no remnant there left that is good toward God or capable
of anything spiritually. The natural man receiveth not
the things of God, neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned. With the Lord Jesus Christ to
a natural person, then he is as a root out of dry ground,
there's no form nor comeliness that we should desire him. We've
all gone astray, we've all gone our own way. The natural man
does not have things of which the gifts from Christ just add
or top up, or he doesn't have either anything that he may bargain
or give in exchange for things from God. And so it is important
to, when we come to receiving from the Lord and how we receive
from the Lord to not forget what we are and are in the sight of
God. Men do not like to be told that
they are fallen and lost and corrupt. And there's many with
a profession of faith, those that believe in the Arminian
doctrine, or those that even would say they are Calvinistic,
but still require something from man as his duty, they are not
coming with the truth that man in himself is incapable of receiving
the things of God. He is destitute of anything toward
God. And this is through the sentence
God himself put upon man, in the day that thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die. And some will say, well, we are
not literally dead. If there's one in the graveyard,
they're not capable of doing anything at all. But we must
remember what we're speaking of here is spiritual things. We can have someone that is a
completely ungodly person, and they are lovely, they are kind,
they are gentle, we might even say they're gracious, and yet
they may profess to hate God and not want Him, and yet they
are very kind and good to their fellow mortals, And are we then
to say, well here is something that is going to recommend them
to God, or something of which they do not need the grace of
kindness or love, because they already have it, they have it
naturally. But it is not from God, and it
doesn't lead to God. In fact, what they have, it leads
them to not want God, and to go away from him as if they were
like the Pharisees who said that we are rich, we have everything,
we are able to keep the law, we are able to do it. That's
why the lawyers, they came to the Lord. What good thing shall
I do to inherit eternal life? All the time there's that supposition
that man is not so really fallen, that he cannot offer something
to God. And Paul says this in Romans
10, where he desired his fellow countrymen to be saved, and he
says, I bear them witness they have a zeal for God, but not
according to knowledge. People can be religious, and
that they can think that they're acceptable to God, but in their
own thoughts and in their mind, what they are, pinning their
hopes upon is coming from themselves. And if they have anything that
lacks, well, God will top it up. But we need to come to these
truths that everything must come from the Lord. He is the author
and nothing that comes from corrupt, fallen nature, is ever acceptable
unto God. And that is what we must think.
Well, if we have things that look like what God gives, but
they do not come from him, where do they come from? Do they come
from the world? Do they come from our own heart?
The word says that the heart is deceitful above all things
and desperately wicked. If it comes from there, then
it is It is a polluted spring. It is not that which is acceptable
unto God. It's lying with Aaron's sons
that brought that strange fire. It did not come from heaven. They'd manufactured it themselves. Sparks of their own kindling. You might say, well, there's
sparks, there's fire. Isn't that good enough? But it
came from themselves. It didn't come from God. Everyone
that is blessed by God will acknowledge their source, and how they were
blessed, and their dependence, and we need to assert this. And so here, in our text, it's
setting forth that which is in the Lord Jesus Christ, but not
only that, but how we receive it. And it's set forth here that
it is grace for grace. I want to look at the Lord's
help this morning. Firstly, the fullness that is
in Christ. And then secondly, the means
of receiving Christ's fullness. And lastly, the graces received
by grace. But firstly, the fullness that
is in Christ. Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ,
is truly God and truly man. He's equal with the Father and
with the Spirit, and there are those attributes, or that which
belongs to him, that is not capable of being communicated to men. Can we think of those things
that are not his omnipresence? He cannot give to man that he
is everywhere at one time. His omniscience, that is his
knowing all things. He cannot, he does not give that
to men. That is not one of those graces
that he gives. His power, his omnipotence, he
does not give that. unto men. He gives it in that
way, in a measure, to men. We think then of immutability,
the impossibility of changing. We do not receive that from Christ,
though he has that, as the eternal God. His self-existence, we do
not receive that from him. Our existence is always dependent
upon Him, it is not a self-existence. The eternal nature, though our
souls are eternal, they are, have a beginning, and their eternal
nature is only given by God, but there's not eternal going
back into eternity and forward into eternity. There are things, of course,
that are given and they given in a measure. We think especially
of love. God is love. Well, God communicates
love to his people and holiness, he communicates to them, but
that does not make them perfectly holy, fully holy, or to have
full love, but it is in measure that it is given. But really
that which is to be conveyed to the people of God, it all
centres upon what our Lord Jesus Christ did upon earth, His coming
to this world. Without that, there would be
nothing that He would be able to righteously and justly in
any way give to fallen sinful man. Man under the law, man under
condemnation, for the Lord to give anything to him by way of
grace, he must first settle the debt that they owed. Though it
is free to us, it is not free to the Lord. There must be that
pain. Mr. Ansbottom and his little
The book, Bible Doctrines, simply explains, very good book, if
you haven't gotten, ask for one, you'll be able to give you one.
But he explains simply many of the doctrines of Christ and of
God. And one of the things that he
illustrated was a lad was carrying a bored on his shoulder. And as
he's walking along, someone called out to him and he swung round
to see who they were. It was his father calling to
him and the plank of wood went straight through a window, smashed
it. And he immediately said how sorry
he was, please forgive me. And the father said, well, I
forgive you, but someone must pay for the window. And we would
remember that the forgiveness that is in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and when God forgives a sinner, it is not without cost. The debt
must be paid, it must be settled. And so we have right through
the word that principle that is set forth and it's called
a redemption. Those that had to be the firstborn
of Israel had to be redeemed by the Levites. There had to be a cost. They
were brought out of Egypt and it was with the shedding of blood. And the word is clear, without
the shedding of blood, there is no remission, there is no
let up. But our Lord Jesus Christ came
so that he would be able to pay that debt. He was to be made
as a near kinsman, like unto his brethren, but sin accepted,
in a position to redeem, like Boaz was in a position to redeem
Ruth. Anyone else under the law of
Israel, however much they wanted to, they could not do it because
they were not of a near kinsman. And so the eternal Son of God,
our Lord Jesus Christ, had to be made of the seed of Abraham. He had to be spotless and pure
and not needing to pay the debt for himself, able to pay it for
another. And so that, what the Lord did
at Calvary, is absolutely necessary, it's indispensable, for him to
be able to communicate anything to those for whom he died. It must come through his precious
blood. And it's good for us to realise
that because if we do receive from him, if we do receive grace,
if we do receive these blessings, we know that the only way we
can receive them is for Christ to have died for us, for him
to have shed his blood for us. Some of the Lord's people may
get low and feel that the Lord has not told me that he's died
for me. I do not know whether he's died
for me or not. Well, every gift and every favor
that is given, that is the token of that. Remember when our Lord
ascended up into heaven Before that, he said, I'll pray the
Father and he will give you another comforter which shall abide with
you forever. And when he ascended, he said,
tarry at Jerusalem until he be endued with power from on high.
And then at Pentecost, that power was given, the Holy Spirit was
given. What a token that he had prayed
his Father, the gift had been given. and those gifts that come
from the Lord, as well as supplying our need, they also give a true
token of where they come from. And so it's vital that we feel
our emptiness and that we know from whence those blessings come
and our conviction of that will then give the assurance that
we are the people of God. The Lord opening his hand and
giving to us what we feel and know we have not in ourselves. And of course, sometimes that
lesson that we have nothing in ourselves is a very hard one
to be learnt, and we need it learnt right through our lives. If the Lord withdraws his grace,
then we are left to feel and to evidence, even perhaps to
others around about us, what we are without His grace, without
His mercy, without those gifts from Him. We think of what it would be
with a plant. Our Lord said of the vine that
the branches, that they cannot bear fruit apart from the vine,
And you might get a branch that's thinking, well, we can bring
forth fruit. We don't need to be joined to
the vine at all. But you sever that branch from
the vine, and very soon it withers and it dies. And then it's very
evident where that sap come from. And sometimes the Lord does hide
his face, withdraw his graces, and that soul is left to feel
for a time what they are. in themselves. And though it
is painful, and though sometimes the people of God might draw
a conclusion from that that they are not the people of God, and
Satan will be quick to accuse that they're not, and yet when
we view it rightly, the Lord will teach us what we are, and
especially if we have thought that what we have done is of
our own. You think of Samson. Samson,
he slew a thousand men. And you read in Judges, with
a thousand men, with a jawbone of an ass, I've slain a thousand
men. It's almost as if he raised up
in pride, look at what I've done. And he threw the jawbone away. And then he was so much a thirst,
and he had to cry unto the Lord. The Lord had given him then this
victory, but he was like to die of thirst. And the Lord clave
a hollow in the jawbone of the ass, and he drunk from that. And Samson went from his strength,
through his boasting, to death's door, as it were, and weakness,
and then to cry unto the Lord. And we can be like that, need
to be reminded that we really do have nothing except from Him. But coming back to that which
the Lord has done in shedding his precious blood, in offering
himself, an offering acceptable, and dying, laying down his life,
taking it again, and then ascending up into heaven, he has satisfied
the justice of God. It is through what the Lord Jesus
Christ has done for his people, I lay down my life for the sheep,
he says. I know for whom I lay it down. And most solemnly, and this is
in John chapter 10, he says of those that would not receive
him, that hated him, would not receive his words, ye are not
of my sheep, therefore ye hear not my words. And so we do believe
in a particular redemption, not general. that a particular God,
particularly loving a people from eternity, laying down his
life for them, and those for whom he has settled the debt
and laid down his life, they will be given the fruits, benefits,
and blessings that flow from his death. And it is through
those gifts that are given that they are made known who they
are. The other thing that is wrought
from our Lord on earth is His righteousness, His perfect life
and perfect obedience, a righteousness that is able to give away, not
His righteousness belonging to His eternal Godhead, but that
which is able to be given. So, the ability to give is in
the Lord. The fullness is in that. The
things to give is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has that fullness,
that store, that provision to be able to give and to give justly
and righteously. So I want to look then secondly
at the means of receiving Christ's fullness. We're told it is grace
for grace. Grace is the free unmerited favor
of God. It is like when someone might
show someone kindness, that's kindness, maybe giving a homeless
person a bed for the night or a meal, but then if that homeless
person damaged their property, was horrible to them, and the
next night they were given a bed again, in kindness again, that's
grace. Grace in the presence of provocation
or not receiving back from what has been given. Now everyone
that receives grace will be mindful that they do not return to God
as they should, they still sin, they still feel very much that
they are not perfect and that's why we need grace if the Lord
only gave to those that received his gifts and never put a foot
wrong, then that would not be grace, we would not receive anything. You think of what the Lord said
when the disciples said, how many times shall my brother sin
against me and turn again and repent and I forgive him? till
seven times? The Lord said, no, till seventy
times seven. And that's what the Lord does
as he gives to his people. And they often, often sin against
him and turn again, repent and sorrow. And he forgives again
and again, and he gives again and again. All the provocations
of the children of Israel through the wilderness, you read this
statement, he withheld not the manna from their mouths. That's
grace. But the means of receiving from
the Lord, grace, is grace. To give an example, If we went
to the local shops to get some food, we'd have food for money. We give them money, and they
give us food in return. So instead of grace for grace,
it's food for money. If we were working for an employer,
we work a day's labour, And we were given money for our labor. So we have money for work. And you see what is here is grace
for grace. It'd be like saving, we're receiving
work for work, or money for money. But here it is grace for grace. But how can that be? Because
we have no grace. is not saying we need grace to
be able to get grace from the Lord. So he's saying the Lord gives
grace first, and with that grace that is given and exercised,
then further grace is given back. This is why we read together
the epistle of Paul to The Ephesians, where we read the beginning,
he is speaking to the Ephesians, you have he quickened or made
alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. And this goes back
to my introduction as to what we are before we start to receive
from the Lord. We are dead. We're walking according
to the course of this world, the prince of the power of the
air. And what happens? What changes it? We read that
God who is rich in mercy, even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, now is going to Christ's death,
his sufferings, by grace ye are saved. So as the grace of God
was shown to us when Christ died for us on Calvary's tree, Then
he says that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches
of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. So he's showing those riches
of grace and they're being shown by his kindness toward us. The Lord's goodness and kindness
to us, or His grace to us, shows His grace, shows what He has
done for us at Calvary. Verse 8, For by grace ye are
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the
gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And so the beginning is grace. God himself gives grace to those
for whom he has died. How is that grace manifested? Well, we'll have a look later
at some of the fruits of that grace, but we may say the first
grace that is given is the grace of life. I give unto them eternal
life. They shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of mine hand. I pass by thee
when thou wast in thy blood, and when thou wast in thy blood,
I bid thee live. The Lord giving unto his people
eternal life, the Lord giving them that which they do not have
themselves, We read of the miracles the Lord did, quickening Lazarus
into life, the widows of Nain's son into life, bringing the dead
to life, those that were naturally dead, literally dead, he gives
life, and all of us are spiritually dead, and he gives that spiritual
life. It is called the new birth. He
must be born again. We began with our natural life
by being born into this world. And the Lord, right through scripture,
he gave her conception. He gives life right from conception,
but he gives spiritual life as well. And that soul then becomes
a living soul, spiritually alive, with spiritual ears, spiritual
eyes, spiritual feelings, capable of receiving spiritual gifts. capable of receiving further
grace. And so that means the means of
receiving the fullness from the Lord is actually given from the
Lord. Now, maybe to use another illustration. So if we had an owner of a store
with food, And they knew someone that was destitute, that didn't
have anything at all. And they went to them and they
gave them some money. They said, here is some money. And it's given graciously, it's
given freely. And so then they go and they
use that money and they go to the store which is also owned
by the same person, and using that which is being given by
them, they're then able to receive that food. And we may say then
they've received graciously the money at first, and then through
that, they've received the food as well. They wouldn't say, oh,
we were just being kindly, graciously given some money, but we bought
the food, we've got that ourselves, we did that. No, that all, the
food came from the owner of the store, the means of purchasing
it came from the store, it all flows from that grace. And so
the Lord gives grace to his people, and with that grace, it then
unlocks more of the fullness. It provides that way that more
fullness flows from the Lord. Perhaps to use another illustration,
if the grace of life had not been given, what need is there
of any spiritual food? What need is there of any other
grace, a grace of perseverance? What, persevering in death? the graces that are needed for
a living soul, you need life first. And then when life is
given, that soul then will realize the need of graces that they
didn't need or didn't feel their need of before. And so it is
the way that God gives is grace for grace. I want to use another
illustration from the Word of God, and this is Romans 5, where
we are told there that when we were without strength, in verse
6, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. In verse 8, God
commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. So there we are, dead in sin,
and Christ is dying for us, well, for us in these gospel days,
2,000 years before we even lived. So then, he says, if much more
then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we
were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being
reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Now he's using
the argument and saying to one that has been quickened into
spiritual life, to know their danger, know their death, know
their need of spiritual gifts, if when you were enemies to me,
when you had no concern, you didn't ask, you didn't pray for
this at all, I pass by, I bid you live, if I did that to you
then, how much more, says God, will I give grace, give helps
and every blessing to you now that you are spiritually alive? Now that I have given you grace
and that grace is in exercise, how much more will I give these
things? So grace makes way for grace. We read again, to emphasize this
point, in James's epistle, and we read in chapter 4, Do you think that the scripture,
verse 5, Do you think that the scripture saith in vain, The
spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy, but he giveth more grace? Wherefore he saith, God resisteth
the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. So, who is the humble? those who have been humbled by
grace, and then he gives more grace to them. And this principle,
he giveth more grace, and join that to our text, he giveth grace
for grace. So I want to look then lastly
at what those graces received for grace are. We've said that the first one
that is given, and vital that it is given, is the grace of
life, to be quickened into divine life. Now where that life then
is given, then there is given bound up with that, there is
given hearing, spiritual hearing, He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Mine ear hath he
opened. That is a grace that is bound
up with life. The dead, they know not anything,
they hear not anything, but a soul then that has the grace of hearing,
then that opens up so much more He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. And so you see, the one grace
that is given to give a hearing ear, then makes way for the grace
of faith, and it makes way for all the teaching of God. Grace for grace. Another grace that is given is
a spirit of prayer, a spirit of grace and of supplication,
or prayer. This was what was said of the
Apostle Paul, when the Lord began with him, Behold, he prayeth,
not as a Pharisee, like he was, long prayers, but short, urgent
prayers, as now a convinced sinner. And the Lord says, I will for
this being quiet of by the house of Israel to do it for them. Pray. How much the Lord emphasized
the need of prayer. He likes to hear from his children,
his people by nature. We don't call upon him. We read
early in Genesis, then began men to call upon the name of
the Lord. It is with the Lord that loves
to hear from His people. His people like to hear from
Him. And though the Lord has appointed and determined what
He will do, yet He will have His people ask Him to do these
things for them. So when He gives the grace of
prayer, when He gives the spirit of grace and of supplications,
it is that He intends to give what is asked for. Graceful grace. How many of us can say, the Lord
gave me the grace of spirit of supplications? Say with Hannah,
for this child I prayed, the Lord hath given me. Or would
Hannah say, I exercised prayer. I was good at prayer. I was eloquent
in prayer. And look what the Lord has given
me in response for my prayer. No. That prayer is given from God
as grace, and in response to that grace, the Lord gives further
grace. Graceful grace. A very important
one is prayer. We think then of the blessing
of patience. We mentioned before of in Romans,
in Romans 5, and earlier on in that chapter. We preached from
it recently, I think. Knowing that tribulation worketh
patience, and patience experience, and experience hope. So each
of those, you see the grace of patience, the grace of experience,
the grace of hope. These are all graces that flow
forth from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We mentioned when
we spoke of those things that could not be communicated by
the Lord because they belong to him as truly God, but there
are also those that are conveyed in measure, that is the graces
of holiness, the graces of wisdom, the graces of love, Those graces
come forth from the Lord. They are communicated to His
people. Often they come through prayer. Sometimes it is that they come
through the Spirit, which again is a grace given. How much more
shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that
ask Him? Other times it is given through
the Word of God, itself. The Lord gave the word, great
was the company of them that published it. And that word then
is used to convey that grace to our songs, teaching us his
way. Learn of me, says our Lord, who
are meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto
your songs. And the one grace leads to another. That's why We read in another
place, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ. That's not in any way growing
more and more godly and holy and independent upon the Lord. No, if we grow in grace, the
opposite of grace is works. We grow more and more viewing
our own works as fruitful and empty and dead and the more needing
of the free and merited favor of God. The more we live, the
more holy we are, really, as sinners, the more we will need
Christ and depend upon him. The hymn writer says, I could
from all things parted be, but never, never, Lord, from thee,
our dependence upon thee. the Lord, in Him we live and
move and have our being, and upon Him live, upon Him cast
my care, the Lord saving from sin, death, destruction and despair. It is the Lord's grace that then
makes way for further grace and further provision, really the
grace of being merciful, the grace of being truthful. How many times that that has
been given. Maybe we've been intent on or
tempted to be untruthful, falsify accounts or times so that we
get money that we weren't really entitled to and the Lord has
dropped in his word. A poor man is better than a liar
and it stopped us in our tracks. Receiving the grace of that word
has made us then, instead of a liar, to be truthful. And that
has been by the grace of God. If he hadn't brought the word
to remembrance, if he hadn't have brought his word to us,
we would have walked the path of a liar. The apostle Paul said,
I am what I am by the grace of God. What do you mean? He would say, I am a sinner,
saved by grace. I am a preacher, I am an apostle.
I am one that is able to bear that thorn in the flesh that
I wanted to get rid of, but the Lord said, my grace is sufficient
for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. So
by God's grace, I am what I am in bearing this thorn in the
flesh. and in all the tribulations and
all the things I've been through, and to be able to live upon Christ,
Christ who is our life shall appear, he says, we shall appear
with him. And the Apostle is pointing to
grace as fashioning his whole being, what he was as a minister,
his whole attitude, how he dealt with others, how he lived, how
he looked for heaven, It is all given by the grace of God. You might say even things like
creativity. You say, what do you mean? Well,
with Bezalel, who made the tabernacle in the wilderness, that come
from here. In my years as a design engineer,
and since, even in things about the chapel, the Lord has an answer
to prayer. He's shown me the designs, the
designs of the Bible boxes, the designs of the machines that
I used to make. Many of them, answers to prayer. I didn't know what it was going
to look like, or how it was going to work, and sought it from the
Lord, and the Lord giving that ability, giving that understanding. We think of Solomon, the wisdom
that he had. Where did it come from? The Lord
gave him prayer. The Lord gave him to request
that, and he gave him that wisdom. And so really, all of these things,
the hope that we have in the Lord, the love that we have to
him, the token, if it is a token, which it is, we know that we
have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren,
Where does that love come from? Is not that also a grace? There's
come forth from grace, coming forth from the Lord. Now it's
very important this. You know, it agrees me when I
hear those that will present the gospel and they'll present
the work of Christ and in all its sufficiency, and loveliness,
and just what a sinner needs. But then they turn around, and
then they say, you must believe, you must accept, you must repent,
you must do this. And they're pointing to some
supposed thing in the sinner. instead of the gospel being that
the fullness is in Christ. Everything is in Him. It is not
from us, and all that we receive along the way is grace for grace. And grace is right at the beginning. Never, never do I want to imply
that there must be something that first instigates salvation
or comes from ourselves. The Lord gives grace, and that
grace is an active grace, and that will lead to further grace. Where the Lord has begun a good
work, we are told, he which hath begun a good work in you will
perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. How has he begun it?
By grace. How is it continued? By grace. And this is the help for a poor
sinner, a helpless sinner, to be always to know that he has,
in the Lord Jesus Christ, all that he needs. The times that
we may feel so prayerless and you come to the Lord, Lord give
me the grace, the spirit of grace and supplications again. When
we feel angry, when we feel fretful and we cannot bear the yoke and
we come before the Lord, Lord, do give me the grace of submission. Do give me the grace of being
able to bear this tribulation. You know, when we feel no love
to the Lord, no love to the word or his people, Lord, give me
the grace of love. These things are to be inquired
of and asked from the Lord. And what we're asking, we're
coming to Him with the grace that He has given to acknowledge
our emptiness, our helplessness, to use that which He has given
as it were that grain of faith to ask for more, to look for
more. Don't come away, don't think,
well, We've got to some kind find it from ourselves before
we can come to the Lord or we come to be blessed. Come and
ask from the Lord those things that we feel to be devoid of
and empty of, where we have sins that we feel a love to and we
don't even want to pray that we be delivered from them. Come
and ask the Lord for that. that He would take away that
love of sinning, that He would grant unto us that hatred of
sin, a love to Him, and always in mind this way the Lord gives,
grace for grace, and not thinking, oh, I'm coming to buy this, I'm
coming to earn it, I'm coming to do from myself. No, we are coming with what the
Lord has given us as a poor, helpless, destitute sinner, and
asking for more grace. He giveth more grace. The crown and the glory is on
his head. And the Lord's dear people, who
really feel their weakness and inability, instead are told to
do what they cannot do, they're pointed to a God that can do
all things. Paul says, I can do all things
through Christ. which strengtheneth me. And that's
a very different thing, but I'm told here is a fullness and blessing
of a gospel in Christ, but unless you do this, this, this, unless
you must, must, must, then these things, you're never gonna have
them at all. You come with the grace that
he has given, sovereignly at the beginning, and you ask for
more grace, and that is the way that the Lord will give it to
his people. He gets all the honour and he
gets all the glory and the people are strengthened. His poor people
that feel their poverty. Of his fullness have all we received
and graceful grace. I hope we can trace in our lives
something of this where we have received Grace for grace. The Lord has given us grace and
by that grace we have sought more grace and sought more of
that fullness that never can be exhausted in our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. Hymn, 184. Tune, Willingdon 815. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all now and evermore. Amen.