I'd like to welcome you all to
our worship here this evening. Let us come before the Lord to
ask his blessing upon our worship. Lord God of heaven and of earth,
Lord, we seek to worship thee in spirit and in truth this evening. Pray for the help of thy spirit,
Lord, that thou has grant us that we might close this year
in services in thy house with thy felt blessing and with thy
word made precious to us, and that we might join with thy dear
saints of old, and give thee the praise and honour and glory
of our salvation. O Lord, do grant us to see that
we are numbered with them who have gone before us. Help us
then to worship thee, O Rhine, and do bless our souls, we ask
through thy name, Lord Jesus. Amen. Hymn, 975. Tune, St. Saviour 228. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God from Hebrews and chapter 11. If you have one
of our free Bibles, that is page 1117, 1117. Hebrews chapter 11,
reading through the whole chapter. Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it
the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which
are seen were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel
offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which
he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of
his gifts, and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch
was translated that he should not see death, and was not found
because God had translated him. For before his translation he
had this testimony that he pleased God. But without faith it is
impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. By faith Noah, being warned of
God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an
ark to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the
world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By faith Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place which he should after receive
for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out not knowing whither
he went. By faith he sojourned in the
land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles
with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith
also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered
of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful
who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of
one and him as good as dead, as many as the stars of the sky
in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. These all died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
and were persuaded of them and embraced them, and confess that
they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say
such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly,
if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came
out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they
desire a better country, that is, an heavenly, Wherefore God
is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for
them a city. By faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac, and he that had received the promises
offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said that
in Isaac shall I see be called. Accounting that God was able,
to raise him up even from the dead, from whence also he received
him in a figure. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob
and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he
was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshipped,
leaning upon the top of his staff. By faith, Joseph, when he died,
made mention of the departing of the children of Israel, and
gave commandment concerning his bones. By faith, Moses, when
he was born, was head three months of his parents, because they
saw he was a proper child, and they were not afraid of the king's
commandment. By faith, Moses, when he was
come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach
of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he
had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook
Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as
seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the Passover
and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn
should touch them. By faith they passed through
the Red Sea as by dry land, which the Egyptians are saying to do
were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho
fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. By faith the
harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when
she had received the spies with peace. And what shall I more
say? For the time would fail me to
tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah,
of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets, who through
faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises,
stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire,
escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong,
waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead, raised
to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance,
that they might obtain a better resurrection. and others had
trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn
asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered
about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and
in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. And these
all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the
promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that
they without us should not be made perfect. The Lord bless
to us that reading of his holy word and help us as we come before
him in prayer. Let us pray. Our loving Heavenly Father, We
come to thee through our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and
seek, Lord, those blessings that thou hast said, if ye being evil
know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more
shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that
ask him? And, Lord, we do seek that we
might have that great gift of thy Spirit that for which that
is charged the disciples to wait and tarry at Jerusalem for, until
they were endued with power from on high. Lord, we seek that same
power, the same blessing, the same unction and savour in the
name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We do thank Thee
for the mercies that we have known in this past year. Thy care, Thy keeping, enabling
us to continue here, supplying our need in the ministry and
in every way. The answers to prayer that Thou
has given, we thank Thee for them. Lord, we do beg of Thee
that Thy word that has been sent forth this year that Thou hast
blessed each one who has received it. And Lord, whether it be through
the ministry here in the chapel or online, or those that hear
the recordings afterwards, or those who have received Bibles
from us, that Thou hast blessed Thy word. Yea, that it might
be that already Thou hast blessed it. We have not heard of it. We have not known of it. that
Thou dost know where Thou hast sent it. And we do plead Thy
promise, that Thou hast said, My word shall not return unto
me void, not empty. It shall accomplish the thing
whereto I sent it. O Lord, we gather to worship
Thee, but in worshiping Thee, Lord, we come oft times like
the woman of Canaan, who worship Thee, saying, Lord, help me.
O Lord, do send us help from the sanctuary and strength out
of Zion, and help us each time we gather to be mindful that
we do gather in the attitude of the worship of the true and
living God, the God that hath made heaven and earth and all
things that are therein. that we come according to thy
appointment and in thy way. O Lord, we would seek that we
might hear thy voice, that we might follow thee, that we might
have the marks of those that we have read of, of true and
living faith, and that thou has blessed thy word before us this
evening. that we might hear thy voice
through thy word, and that thou hast grant us to see him whom
those have gone before us did not yet see the fulfilment of
the promises, but we have them recorded in thy word. Do grant,
Lord, that same faith as they had looking forward to look back
and to view and to believe in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We say, Lord, that Thou hast
blessed each gathered. May each soul be precious in
Thy sight. We thank Thee for the children
and young people and pray Thy blessing in their souls while
they are young. Be with each parent to give them
help to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord. O Lord, help us to go on, Lord. Help us to raise in Ebenezer. as one year is closed, and that
we might look forward and do grant us that prayer and belief
that they are able to do far above all that we can ask or
even think. We pray, Lord, that we might
be given patience and endurance, that we might be made true servants,
servants who do not question who do not go against thy appointments,
but seek to trust all in thee and thy divine arrangement and
appointment. But Lord, that thou hast bid
us to seek that there might be blessing, that there might be
prosperity, that there might be those that are called by thy
grace and brought into the liberty of the children of God. And we
pray, Lord, that blessing on each here and that thou hast
gathered others in and fill this house with hungry, thirsting
souls. You bless the ministry here,
grant, Lord, that continual anointing. And we do pray that we and each
of thy servants might be kept close to thee, live in thy fear,
delivered out of Satan's hand and from our own wicked, evil
hearts. Leave us not to bring a reproach
upon thy name and cause, but Lord, do grant that we might
be useful as vessels sanctified and made for the Master's use. And Lord, be pleased to give
prayer in the pew and power in the pulpit. We do say that thou
shalt remember each that gather this evening as we do. to grant
thy blessing, to send forth more labourers into the harvest, be
with thy dear aged servants and those who often labour in infirmity
and weakness, and O Lord, to be pleased to strengthen our
churches and shine upon us as a group of churches. And wherever
thy truth is faithfully set forth in this land, O Lord, be with
thy people, whether small gatherings or larger, May, Lord, there be
that prosperity. Send thou now prosperity. We do seek, Lord, to commit the
week that we've entered upon unto thee. We pray, Lord, for
those who gather throughout the week. May thy blessing be upon
the services on New Year's Day and each service of gathering
of worship this week. And Lord, do give journey mercies
to those who travel and do give help to those that return again
to their labours. And Lord, be with friends and
dear brethren in other lands. We commit them unto thee, especially
those in affliction and passing to another year with sorrows,
with bereavements, with afflictions. Be with those who must meet for
funerals early in this year and do comfort them and do help them. We do thank thee then for every
blessing, we thank thee for one another in the Lord, we thank
thee for thy holy word, we thank thee for the gospel of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ and we do thank thee that we are
still found We haven't cast away our faith. We haven't given all up. Lord,
thou hast still enabled us to look to thee. And we do plead
that word, that he that endureth unto the end shall be saved. And Lord, we would not wait until
the end to give thee thanks, but give thee thanks for each
day and each month and each year. that we've been helped to continue
still looking unto thee, still desiring thy salvation. Lord,
do save us then with thy great salvation. Magnify thy name of
Jesus in us, for he shall save his people from their sins. We pray again for all in authority
over us, our King and Queen, Our Prime Minister and Parliament,
open their eyes to the Gospel, open their eyes to their need
of the Saviour. Deliver us, Lord, from unrighteousness
as a nation, and do grant, Lord, that thy word might again have
a place in our parliaments. Those that are professed Christians,
do give them grace and take away the fear of man. they might be
salt and light and faithful witnesses where Thou hast placed them.
O leave them not to discard their own job, their own position,
their own importance, but Lord, may they truly esteem that Thou
hast raised them up where they are, that they might speak Thy
word faithfully. Do help us then as we turn to
thy word now, and grant us that same grace. Bless, Lord, with
hearing ears to what thy spirit saith unto this church. Wash
and cleanse us from our every sin. Sanctify us wholly. May thy word have a gracious
effect in our heart and lives, and do grant us godly discernment. Help us, Lord, to be. not only
like thy people, but to be thy people, that we might not be
just found amongst them, but to be them. O Lord, do bless
us with a portion of thine here below, and to know that thou
art our eternal portion. We ask thee these things through
our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. The announcements, God willing,
I'm expected to preach here on Thursday evening at 7 o'clock
and next Lord's Day at 11 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. We do not hold
a New Year's Day service here, but there are those in the area,
there's prayer meetings at Maidstone, and at Rotherfield in the morning
of the 1st and services at Tenderton in the afternoon and evening.
Details of those are on our notice board here and on our website
notice board. There is also a list of the special
services throughout the whole of 2025 of churches in the locality
here, quite a wide circle round where you can look at in one
place on our notice board see all of the special services. May the Lord's blessing be upon
those gatherings. Today is the fifth Lord's Day
and so we hold a special collection. The collection today is for the
Christian Institute. Lord bless you in your giving. Hymn, 80. Tune, Innocents 474. Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the epistle of Paul to the
Romans. Romans chapter 15 and verse 10. Romans 15 and verse 10. And again he saith, Rejoice,
ye Gentiles, with his people. Romans 15 and verse 10. In the section of this letter,
the Apostle Paul is speaking of that which the Gentiles have
with the people of God. And we, of course, are Gentiles. And it is a great blessing to
see how clearly through the Word of God that the blessing in the
Lord Jesus Christ is to come to us. There are those of us
that know that the Lord has blessed us with that same faith as his
ancient people. Our Lord said that he was a shepherd,
a good shepherd. and that he had other sheep that
he must bring that were not of this fold, not of the Jews. Them also I must bring, there
shall be one fold and one shepherd. And Paul speaks in his letter
to the Ephesians, how that in the Lord Jesus Christ there is
gathered together in one, both Jew and Gentile. Now, what is upon my spirit this
evening? We have in the Word of God, and
we have read in Hebrews 11, a list of those that have walked by
faith, believing that the Lord Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah,
would come to this world would put away their sin by the sacrifice
of himself. They lived and they died by faith. We read at the end of that chapter
that those did not live to see that event actually happen, but
they were saved by faith in that it did happen. They were of the
Jewish nation, some of them, like Rahab, of Gentiles. And it's good for us and especially
as we come to the close of a year and we think of that tracing
through the history of time, we are adding one year after
another. History is being made all the
time and we are bidden to remember the way, to remember that which
is before us. And really the whole scripture
is a reminder of that. that that which is written for
time is written for our learning, that we, through patience and
comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. And it's good for
us then, when we think of ourselves as Gentiles, to look at that
which the Lord has blessed his people with, and to rejoice with
them, and to be glad in what they saw and what they trusted
in. And it is a reminder that the
blessings of the gospel are indeed blessings. They are for sinners,
and it is good news for sinners. And to those that feel themselves
undone, feel themselves lost and ruined in the fall, the word
of the gospel brings a Solved from under-condemnation to being
not under-condemnation. To be those that are without
hope in the world to have hope. And to not only have hope, but
rejoice in what they have and what they see. And so we have
the word before us, rejoice ye Gentiles with His people. And this evening I want to just
briefly go through some of those characters that we read of in
Hebrews 11. the gifts that He gives, that
makes known who are His people. All are lost and ruined in the
fall, those that are God's people, those that are not. There's without
exception that all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. Without God's plan, without His
covenant, without His provision, none would be saved. And God has made certain that
there shall be a number that are saved. And so he has chosen
in Christ an election of grace, whom the Lord Jesus Christ would
suffer, bleed, and die for, pay their penalty, pay their sin,
and that he also would ensure, as the mediator of the new covenant,
executor of his own will, that those for whom he died will come
in time, when they are in time, they will come to faith, they
will come to trust, they will come to believe in him, and they
shall be saved. They shall all know me from the
least even unto the greatest. They shall all be taught of God. The election hath obtained it,
the rest were blinded. the election, none would be saved. With it, the certainty of those
for whom Christ died is assured they shall be saved. And this gospel of the grace
of God and of the only way of salvation is to be proclaimed
throughout this world to the end of time. And those that feel
themselves sinners, those that under the law of God feel condemned
and lost, they are welcome to this gospel table. They are welcome
to look to the Lord Jesus Christ and to trust in him. It is to
sinners, not that don't know they're sinners, but those that
do know and those that feel it, that the gospel in all its beauty
in all its loveliness is to be proclaimed and set before them. The Lord Jesus Christ commends
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. And really God's people are the
only ones on this earth that really will ever feel sin as
what it is and know themselves as sinners. And yet many of them
will say, well, I don't feel that I feel my sin enough. But if it's enough to make the
Lord Jesus Christ precious and indispensable, it is enough. So I want to look at these characters
and especially those things that God has commended in his word
as being the result of saving faith. The first one I would mention
is not really a character but an observation, that through
faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word
of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things
which do appear. And it's such a thing today when
the creation is undermined Or there are those who seek to bring
the holy word of God under science and be subjective to what science
teaches of millions of years or a long earth. But the word
of God is very clear that from the beginning of the world, the
Lord has had his prophets and that the world began with our
Lord creating it. And death entered into the world
through sin, and that there wasn't death millions of years before
that, it all began at sin. And so it is a great blessing,
a great mark of faith, when contrary to what is so universally either
discredited or not believed today, that we have eyes to see, and
to believe in God's creation. The very first mark here or evidence
of what is faith. And when we see men sometimes
enthusing over the wonders of creation, but as soon as you
suggest that it was God that formed it and maintains it, then
they turn hostile. And then you can see they just
do not want to acknowledge that. And there are many characters
that are like that, many that we have come across in our lifetime. And so it is a great thing, a
blessed thing, if the Lord has opened our eyes, given us faith
to understand the creation, to believe that it did come about
by the word of God. The next thing I bring is the
case of Abel. We read that Abel offered unto
God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Again, we have a contrast. Those of you that hear my ministry
often, you'll know I often highlight how contrasts are used in the
Word of God. Our Lord used them all the time
with the parables, and right from the very beginning we have
not one but two worshippers, Cain and Abel. One worshipping in a way that
God had respect to and is stated here as by faith that was given
him and the other of his own devising, work and fruit of his
own hands. And so set before us Abel saw
the need of a blood sacrifice. And we may ask ourselves, has
the Lord shown us this? Do we have faith to view this? That what is absolutely vital,
what is taught right through the Word of God, and what our
soul needs, is an interest in the sacrifice of our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ, on Calvary's tree. Without the shedding of
blood, there is no remission. There is no doubt that as Abel
offered that sacrifice, he is looking past that blood of bulls
and goats and looking to the promised seed of the woman. And it is absolutely vital for
us that we have that same faith. The Apostle Paul says, I determine
to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And if we're tempted to think,
well, as Christians, well, we all believe this, don't we? Well,
you have the contrast there, Cain and Abel, but we have many
that will say that they're Christians, but they're allowing some other
way of getting to heaven, some other faith as well. And what
is vital with this is that it is a faith exclusively in the
Lord Jesus Christ, in his sacrifice alone. There is no other name
given among men whereby we must be saved. All of the people of
God, all that go to heaven, their sins were put away at Calvary
through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The next one I'll mention is
with Enoch. We are told in the actual account
in Genesis that he walked with God and was not, for God took
him. In the account here in Hebrews,
he had this testimony that he pleased God. And immediately
that is clarified in verse six, that without faith, it is impossible
to please him. So he not, he had faith. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him. Again, beautiful marks of faith. A poor sinner who is coming to
God, who believes in God, and as he comes, he comes diligently
seeking the Lord. Do we have been brought to seek
the Lord while he is to be found? to call upon him while he is
near. Has the Lord drawn us to seek
after him in this way? Going back to what was said in
Genesis, how that he walked with God, and then we think of what
Paul says before the Romans in the earlier chapter than where
our text is in Romans 8, the whole emphasis of what he is
speaking is of the walk. And he is saying that those that
have no condemnation, they are those that walk not after the
flesh, but after the spirit, that the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit
the things of the Spirit. And so, when we think of Enoch,
we think of one that is walking, walking after the Spirit, walking
after the things of God, seeking after God. James, in his epistle,
he says that faith without works is dead. It's not just enough
to say, well, I believe. I believe in God. Our Lord had
those that came to him in John 8, They believed in him, but
his message to them was that if ye continue in my word, then
you shall be disciples indeed. You shall know the truth and
the truth shall make you free. And so with Enoch, a disciple
indeed, not just in word, but he walked in the ways of the
Lord. He walked with the Lord. Does our faith, does our walk
testify of a faith in God? Then we have Noah. You might
say, well, how can we derive a comparison or lesson for us
with Noah? We're told with Noah that by
faith he was warned of God, things not seen as yet, moved with fear,
prepared an ark to the saving of his house. And our Lord said
that in the last days, as it was in the days of Noah, so it
shall be in the last days. The days of Noah, they bought,
they sold, they married, they gave in marriage, they built
it until the flood came and took them all away. There was no sign
of it. The only warning that Noah had
was God's word and his belief in it. And Peter says, there
are those that say, where is the promise of his coming? All
things have continued as they were from the beginning of the
world. And he says in this that they are ignorant for the, and
then he speaks of the flood. The earth standing in the water
and out of the water being overflowed. He says, they're ignorant of
this that happened. With Noah, if we have the spirit
of Noah, we will believe in the word of God that this world shall
perish. We shall die. There shall be
the judgment after death. We shall stand before God. And
in actual fact, in our lives, in faith, we will do the same
thing as Noah, not building an actual ark. We won't be saved
by an ark at the last day, but being found in Christ, not having
our own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which
is of faith in him, and a soul that is seeking after him, an
interest in him, and to know the Lord, to walk with him. They,
in effect, are building a refuge much better than the ark. The
ark, of course, served its day, but a beautiful type of Christ,
that when the end of the world comes and when we die, it is
to be found in Christ. And so if through our lives,
in actual fact, we are walking after the Lord, we are doing
like Noah did, not with wood and nails and pitch, making an
ark, but in seeking after the Lord, seeking to know him, whom
to know his life eternal. and a shelter beneath his precious
blood. What we do, how we seek the Lord,
very important. You take a comparison. Those
who just come in and out of the house of God, just as a door
upon its hinges with not a thought, no prayer, no concern, no thought
of their death or the judgment to come, or whether their sins
are blotted out or not, A very different case than those who
come to worship and they come anxious and concerned and want
to know of the Lord and know the interest in Him and to feed
upon the Word of God and to be brought to trust in Him. What
kind of hearers are we? Hearers, as it were, like Noah,
building that ark, building up yourselves in your most holy
faith as the Apostle would put it. But then I want to speak
of Abraham. In verse 8 we read, By faith
Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should receive for inheritance, obeyed. And really I thought with Abraham,
that was the one thing that marked him out, obedience. He left heir
of the Chaldees, not knowing whether he went, but he knew
he wasn't to stay there. When he had to offer up Isaac,
and that's later on in verse 17, then again he obeyed. God was going to show him upon
what mountain. The giving of the substitute,
the ram caught in the thicket, that was all withheld until the
last moment. He just followed the law. How
often with us we, in effect, would say, well, what will this
man do? What will happen here? We want
to know the next step before we will make a step without knowing. But in Abraham, we're reminded
of venturing, of obedience, trusting in the Word of God without understanding,
without knowing the next step, but knowing what we should do
at the present time as obedient children. One of the great marks
that people have got on the evidences of faith is obedience to the
Lord. As obedient children, may we
be like Abraham in that. of obedience. The next one is
Sarah, Abraham's wife. And I always find this one an
interesting one, an encouraging one, because we know with Sarah,
when Abraham was told by the Lord that Sarah should conceive,
she laughed in the tent behind. And yet, The record here of faith
is in verse 11, through faith also Sarah herself received strength
to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past
age because she judged him faithful who had promised. It makes me
think of the hymn writer, dream not of faith so clear shuts all
doubtings out. when we actually read of the
life of the people of God, and we read of their doubts, their
fears, their laughing even at the possibility that God could
do this, and yet to read that God actually did give faith. She would not have conceived
if he had not have given faith. But she did, and that should
be a real encouragement to us. If we may feel well, we're like
Sarah. We're an unbeliever. We laugh
at the Lord's possibility of doing these things. They seem
impossible to us. But it was what the Lord said,
that which is impossible with God is not impossible with men,
is not impossible with God. And so Sarah is a great encouragement
for where we may begin, You might say feeling faithless
and much unbelief, and yet the Lord is pleased to raise up faith
and there is that done in spite of all of our unbelief. May the
Lord make us to be like Sarah, to be brought from all our doubts,
our fears, our limiting of the Lord, to be blessed in spite
of with this faith that Sarah had. The next one is that of Moses
in verse 24. By faith, Moses, when he was
come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. And as those two words,
choosing rather. You know, by nature we do not
choose the people of God. We do not choose affliction and
trouble and sorrow over against ease and pleasure. The lifestyle Moses would have
had in Pharaoh's palace, we would choose rather than going on the
wilderness journey and being with the people of God. It is by faith that that choice
is made and is a great mark of faith. Again, we have contrasts,
not in Moses here, but certainly in the book of Ruth, where we
have two of Naomi's daughter-in-laws. And one, she chooses to cleave
to Naomi, and the other, she chooses to go back to her own
country and her own gods. And the mark of Ruth's faith,
it began with love, began with a cleaving to the people of God,
to her in-law, Even in adversity, widowhood, sorrow, bereavement,
and loss, she claimed to her, went with her, and went with
her to a strange land, and there the Lord blessed her. And so
with Moses and this mark of the choosing, being let go, the apostles,
they went unto their own company. Very many of the Lord's dear
people have, when the Lord has begun with them, they've changed
the company that they keep, not with all, but with some. There is a real mark of a difference
with those that they spend their free time with, those that they
like to be, and in evidences, What John says in his epistle,
we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love
the brethren. He says here, esteeming the reproach
of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. Again,
there is a contrast. Those riches in Egypt and then
the reproach of Christ. And faith here, it looks to the
reward. It looks beyond this life. It
doesn't look at the present and what we have now. It looks for
that which is eternal. And again, do we have that faith? Do we have that which puts a
value on which the world does not? We put a value on that which
is not seen by the natural eyes, but is believed in the heart
and read of in the word of God. And if we follow after that,
even though in that path may be affliction and trial and disadvantage
in the things of this life. Moses then is an example to us
of how faith works in the hearts of his people. a difference that
is made, a change in direction. Then I want to think of what
is said here of the children of Israel and led by Moses passing
through the Red Sea as by dry land. Here again we have the
children of Israel going through and that passage is a passage
of life we have the Egyptians trying to go through, and it
was a passage of death. It was exactly the same passage. And so we may say, concerning
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, our Lord says that whosoever
shall fall upon this stone, fall upon Christ in seeking mercy
and grace and salvation, so we say, But upon whom this stone
shall fall, he shall be ground to powder. The Lord Jesus Christ
shall at last be the great judge upon his father's throne and
shall be a terror to those outside of him. But to those that in
time have been given faith in him and from him, Those are saved
by the very same way as those that are lost. It is, as set
forth in another place, the stumbling stone, a rock of offense, a stone
that the builders have rejected. That same stone has become the
headstone of the corner. Those in our Lord's day, like
the man born blind, to him the Lord Jesus Christ was a means
of opening his eyes and of salvation. But the Jews, they turn, they
crucify the Lord of life and glory. The very difference, and
it all centers in the Lord Jesus Christ. On one side, There is
hostility and hatred and replying against him, or just using his
name, cast in the scale and virtually serving how he's like to. And
on the other hand, there is a salvation in him according to his word. It is a great contrast. how that same passage was salvation
to one and death to another. Verse 31, we read of Rahab. We have a picture of what Rahab
said when the spies came to her, that the whole city, not just
her, all of the people there, They had heard what the Lord
did in drying up the Red Sea, in parting the Red Sea. That
was 40 years before they remembered that. And their hearts failed
because of the children of Israel. But only Rahab was brought to,
by faith, not perish, and we're told here, with them that believed
not or were disobedient. It was the providence of God
that brought the spies there. It was faith in Rahab that brought
her to plead for her life and for the life of her family, to
ask for a true token, to look for help when, naturally speaking,
you wouldn't think there was any help. God had said that they
had to destroy all those in Canaan, all those nations. But here is
one pleading for mercy and help and that she might be saved and
obtained that. There's a real lesson to us in
that. We could think back to the Ninevites. They were told the city there
would be destroyed in 40 days. They didn't just rub their hands
and say, well, there's nothing we can do. God is determined
to destroy it. But God had given them 40 days.
He'd given them a time. And so they repented with a who
can tell. And no doubt Rahab had something
of that, who can tell as well. However much you might have,
Satan's saying, there's no hope for you. There's no mercy for
you. Your sins are too great. The
Lord will pass you by. He has done already for years
and years. He'll never visit your soul.
He'll never bless your soul. May we remember the faith of
Rahab. And may we remember how the people
of God, they catch upon the hope set before them in the word of
God. that the vilest sinner, as the
hymn writer says, out of hell, who lives to feel his need, is
welcomed to the throne of grace, a saviour's blood to plead. Rahab, a type of the Gentile
church, of what we are thinking of here, and there she was, so
bless not only her, but her house as well. She saw what others
did not see, and she believed what they, yes, they believed
that, and they feared and trembled, but they didn't seek for mercy
or for a place of refuge and hiding. What a miracle it was.
She was on the wall, the walls fell flat, but not that part
of the wall. And then we have in verses 34
through to 38, we have those that they acted according to
faith and they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, in his coming. They put their trust in him and
saw more value in that than even in their mortal bodies, how that
they suffered so much. Many of us, we've read the account
of the martyrs in the early church and in the time of the persecutions
of the Church of Rome, and we have the list here of those that
were martyred, not accepting deliverance, that they might
obtain a better resurrection. And here is faith that sees the
value of the soul so much more than of the body. Fear not, says
our Lord, them that kill the body, and after that there is
nothing more they can do. But fear him, that after he hath
killed, hath power to cast both body and soul into hell. And you see those here and this
mark of faith upon them all, they were looking past this world
and all of its sorrows and they'd much rather suffer in this way
and obtain heaven and attain the glory set before them than
have ease here and deny their Lord and deny that faith of which
they and brought to trust in. In these Gospel days, we look
back to Christ. Our faith still, as theirs was,
is to be based upon the Word of God. Faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God. And it is still, in the new birth,
the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the author and finisher
of our faith. In the next chapter, from Hebrews
11, we have a wherefore, seeing we also are encompassed about
with so great a cloud of witnesses, and then it applies it to ourselves,
applies it to us. May it be as we venture into
another year that we remember this. We have a race that is
set before us as well. Let us lay aside every weight
and the sin with dust so easily beset us, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith. We may say, with all that
cloud of witnesses, the Lord Jesus was the author and finisher
of their faith. And the Lord Jesus Christ, who
for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne
of God. May we have that same like precious
faith and to rejoice as Gentiles with his people in what the Lord
has given us, done for us, set before us, that hope beyond the
grave, a hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, he said, rejoice,
ye Gentiles, with his people. Amen. Hymn, 9. Tune, Alfred 287. 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.