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. Let us pray. O Lord
God of heaven and of earth, we bow before Thee in the attitude
of worship and see the aid and help of Thy Holy Spirit, that
Thy Word might be in power, that Thou wouldst get to Thyself honour
and glory and praise. from the earth and from this
place and from our lips. O Lord, do grant us then thy
blessing, those here and those that join with us online. Lord,
may we gather as one before thy throne. We ask through thy name,
Lord Jesus. Amen. Hymn 34. Tune, Roscommon 401 Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God, the Gospel according to Luke chapter 2,
and we'll read the first 20 verses. We have one of our free Bibles,
that is page 944. 944. Luke chapter 2 from verse
1. And it came to pass in those
days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all
the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made
when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. And all went to be taxed,
everyone into his own city. And Joseph also went up from
Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, unto the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and
lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife,
being great with child. And so it was that while they
were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling
clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for
them in the inn. And there were in the same country
shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock
by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about
them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them,
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And
this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising
God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, goodwill toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels
were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one
to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing,
which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto
us. And they came with haste and
found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. When
they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told
them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered
at those things which were told them. by the shepherds. But Mary
kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds
returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they
had heard and seen as it was told unto them. Thus far, the reading of God's
holy word. May he bless it to us and help
us in prayer. Let us pray. O Thou most merciful and gracious
God, our loving Heavenly Father, we come to Thee through our Lord
and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and seek Thee blessings of Thy Word. We read of those that heard these
tidings that we have heard, that we have read and lord they testify
what they had seen and oh lord we do see that we might partake
a little of their joy of their gladness, of what they realised
in their own souls. Lord, we read of many in thy
word whose hearts were touched, whose tongues were loosed, who
praised thy name, who thou didst say, if they should hold their
peace, the very stones would cry out. O Lord, we have read
of not only joy, but great joy, And Lord, do grant that we might
search our hearts to know whether we have truly known anything
of what has a answer in that word, great joy. Lord, we thank Thee where we
have had our hearts leap with joy at Thy word, at the realisation
of what Thou hast done for us and of what is set before us.
within the veil. We see that we might more and
more realize that joy and enter into it. We know that at last
the word shall be, well done, thou good and faithful servant,
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. And we see that here below,
whether a minister or not, that we might be thy servants, that
it might be pronounced upon us at the end, well done. Help us,
Lord, to walk rightly in the midst of tribulation. Help us,
Lord, to trust thy sovereign hand. Help us to trust thy goodwill
toward men, to trust thy promises, to trust what we have set before
us in thy word this morning. O Lord, do be pleased to make
us to be of those upon this earth that do follow the example of
the angels and give glory and praise and honour unto our God. And leave us not to listen to
Satan, which would always pull thee down from thy excellency,
always cast aspersions, hath God said. And O Lord, do be pleased
to deliver us from his hand and from the unbelief of our own
wicked hearts, and do grant us that we might partake of the
interest in thy prayer for Peter and for all thy people. I have
prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. O Lord, do save us
from this world and from the God of this world that blinds
the hearts of many. and do open our eyes more to
see wondrous things out of thine law, and to rejoice in God our
Saviour. Lord, we come to thy house and
unto thy word with expectation of having our souls fed with
the bread from heaven. We come with that expectation
of having our faith strengthened. When thou art converted, strengthen
thy brethren. Lord, who remember those gathered
this morning, those who need strengthening, those who have
been wearied by the greatness of the way, those who have felt
the temptations of the adversary, those who have been reeling to
and fro with those tidings and things that have come upon them. O Lord, those that are perplexed
by the things that have happened, Lord, make us to be like Asaph,
who when he went into the house of God understood, O Lord, to
open our understanding. that we might be able rightly
to trust Thee and look unto Thee. O Lord, we have no mind, we have
no wisdom, no understanding of our own. We are so soon faint,
we are so soon discouraged, we so soon listen to Satan, we so
soon distrust Thee. O Lord, do encourage and help
us this morning. that we might have redressed
the balance, that instead of listening to the adversary today,
we might listen to Thee, that we might have Thy voice, and
that we might hear what Thy Spirit does say unto the churches, not
what the evil spirit does say unto our souls. Lord, do grant
us the light of Thy Word to shine in our hearts, and give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. To be pleased to bless us as
a church and people, we do beg of thee that thou wouldst maintain
us, strengthen us, be with us, and add unto us such as should
be saved. Bless each Lord that join with
us online and that hear thy word through the recordings, whether
in this land or in other lands. Do be with the lonely ones, be
with those who do not have a place of worship that they may go and
meet with thy people. Lord, do remember those who must
worship in their own family and just with a few. O Lord, do help
them, be with them, and Lord, do use the means of grace that
thou hast given us and the means of the spreading of it to thine
honour and glory and to the gathering in. of thy scattered people. We do seek, O Lord, to thank
thee for thy great mercies and favours, for every token for
good, every time thy word has been made precious, every time
we have been drawn to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. and
Lord, who grant it to be so this morning and at this season of
the year. Lord, bless each one that he
might be renewed to us the wonder that thou hast come, the Son
of God hath come, those years of the hopes and the fears that
have been brought to a conclusion with thy coming and with thy
suffering's death, thy resurrection, thy intercession in heaven. We thank thee for these gospel
days. We thank Thee for these days
when the clear light of the gospel is seen and known, and the only
thing, as it were, that is dark unto us is that which is before
us in heaven and that which is hidden in mysterious providences. O Lord, we would look upon what
Thou hast done, trust Thee for what Thou wilt do, lean upon
Thy promises that relate to us in this our day, and do help
us to run the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. To remember those in particular
trials at this time. Lord, we think of this season
of the year, a season that is supposed to be of gladness to
so many. We know many will not be looking
to thy coming or to the gospel in these days, but many will
be anticipating that there be some joy or gathering together
of loved ones, and yet there will be others that will be dreading
this period and this time, accentuating their loneliness, accentuating
the loss of loved ones, accentuating that they do not have those that
they can meet with and gather with, And Lord, do remember those
that this season have also pain and have that which they dread. Lord, do come in beside them,
do help them, do lift them up. And Lord, may it be that in their
sorrows there is led to thee, the man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. And what that is go through,
that we might have not earthly joy, but everlasting joy, and
yet thou hast still given us those foretaste and blessings
here below. O Lord, do be pleased to be with
our churches, with our churches in this land, those that meet
together as we do now, and Lord, those in Australia, those in
Canada and America, our dear friends in Holland, we do pray
for those in other nations, that join with us and we do seek,
O Lord, that Thy blessing might be upon Thy people through our
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Remember those that are in affliction,
do grant Thy kind grace and help to pass through those dark valleys
of pain, weakness, uncertainty. O Lord, bless medication, Lengthen
days, grant healing if it could please Thee. And Lord, do give
skill to those that care for the sick and help them. Lord, do give that direction
to them. All wisdom comes from Thee, we
do acknowledge that. And oh Lord, do be pleased to
be with each that gather in our assemblies, to open their eyes,
to bless the children, the young people, grant a following generation. O Lord, we do pray for these
things. We do seek that Thou would remember
organisations that seek to help Thy people and help the churches. Remember the Christian Institute
and their staff and do bless them and help them in what they
do to strengthen Thy people. I do say that those who remember
our government, and in all in authority over us, especially
at this time, do overturn the assisted dying bill, and that
they might not be brought into law. That those give to our government
ears to good advice, and shut ears to bad advice, to strengthen
those who are Christians in Parliament, that they might unashamedly give
testimony that their wisdom comes from above, they seek it there,
and their life, their worldview, is through the lens of thy holy
word. Now leave them not ashamed, leave
them not to just have a name of being a Christian, and yet
being in a position of power, of authority, and yet not being
salt, and not being light, and not being troubled about it.
O Lord, do in mercy help them and take away the fear of man
and give them openings and help them to speak as they are able. O Lord, we do pray that Thou
hast been pleased to raise up others and raise up leaders that
shall glorify Thy name. Lord, we do seek of Thee that
Thou hast blessed each gathering. Lord, this week we commit the
week unto Thee. O Lord, do grant there might
be honour and glory to Thy name in each assembly of Thy people. We pray for the forgiveness of
sin. We would remember that Thou hast
come, that sin might be dealt with, might be put away. We confess
our many sins. Lord, we are mindful of them.
Oftentimes we don't feel we feel them enough, but Lord, do grant
that we might hate sin, mourn over it, and that we might be
brought through Thee to real repentance and godly sorrow and
the token of our sins put away. Lord, where sin has become a
habit, break that habit. Where it is a besetting sin,
do loose us from it. Lord, where it is a weight and
a hindrance, Do deliver us and help us to lay aside every weight. And Lord, do remember us. When
those sin comes in and we feel so weak and so powerless, lift
up a standard against the adversary. And Lord, deliver us from our
own wicked, deceitful heart. We pray for godliness. We pray
for thy Holy Spirit to be with us. We pray for faith to be strengthened
and we pray that thy word might dwell in us richly. The tender
conscience, the teachable spirit be given us and that help through
thy word. Eyes to see our teachers and
ears to hear a voice behind us saying, this is the way, walk
ye in and when you turn to the right hand, when you turn to
the left. Lord, do grant that our teachers
might not be moved into a corner anymore. that our eyes shall
see our teachers we shall see the needs be even of the darkest
paths lord that we might know that thy word is true that all
things work together for good to them that love god to them
that are the called according to thy purpose. O Lord, who grant
us to walk by faith and not by sight, we confess how often our
sight and what we hear and what we actually see is happening,
fills us with dismay. Our hearts sink, our faith struggles. Lord, strengthen us and help
us. Have eyes unto thee, who is too
good and too wise, to err too good, to be unkind. O Lord, help us now. Bless us
with Thy Spirit. Unworthy though we are, that
we should have Thy help, but help in speaking and in hearing. And do bless us with the love
to Thee and Thine, the love to Thy precious truth. May we walk
by love. We ask, Lord, these mercies through
our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. The announcement, God willing,
I'm expected to preach here this evening at 6.30pm. On Thursday evening, Boxing Day,
we hope to hold the service here at 7 o'clock in the evening.
The next Lord's Day at 11am and 6.30pm. The collection next Lord's
Day, being a fifth Lord's Day, is for the Christian Institute. We're not holding a Christmas
Day service here, but there are a number of services in the churches
round about. We hope to join with our brethren
at East Peckham, who hold that service at 10 o'clock in the
morning. And the service is relayed through
Mixlr, through those who cannot join in person. May you have
the Lord's blessing on those assemblies. Hymn, 38. Tune, Silchester 66. Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Luke chapter 2 and reading
for our text verse 14. Glory to God in the highest and
on earth peace, goodwill toward men. Of course that is in the
hymn that we have just sung, the Last verse, and the second
to last verse, glory to God on high and heavenly peace on earth,
goodwill to men, to angels joy at the Redeemer's birth. Isaac wants putting it in that
way. In these words, we have the angels'
benediction what there is through Christ. The shepherds had been watching
over their flocks at night out in the fields. It's always a
good thing for us to remember this when the Lord Jesus Christ
is spoken of as the Good Shepherd. that in the picture that he pictures,
he is with his people, with his sheep, not in a house going and
visiting them, but with them, like these shepherds were. And it was while they were with
their sheep that then they had this wonderful appearing of the
angels. The first thing that they felt
as they had that vision was fear because of the glory, the suddenness
of it, the unexpectedness of it, the greatness of the vision
that they were shown. And so the first thing is a fear
not. And as we have said before, said
the dear pilgrims at Pilgrim Home, how often before there
is to be a blessing, there is fear. The things that happen,
the things that come, when we're under the law, under condemnation,
there's fear. And it comes before there is
to be blessing. The many fear nots in the Word
of God. the appearances of the Lord to
his people. The wonderful thing is, when
the Lord comes again, he says that men shall fear, and that
shall be a great thing, won't it? All those that are on earth,
when the Lord comes, he shall come with power and great glory
in the clouds of heaven. There shall be signs in the sun
and the moon, men's hearts failing them, for fear. And we are told,
look up for your redemption, draweth nigh. And so it is a
reminder to us, through grace, through the visits of the Lord,
through life, we've had those times of fear. And yet those fears have been
turned into joy. Those fears have been a forerunner. of a blessing, and it is in this
case. And may we then learn through
life the pattern of what the Lord does, and then be ready
against that last day. Of course, with most of us, the
fear that we shall face is as we come down to the Jordan of
death. And we read of those who, through
fear of death, all their lifetime subject to bondage. But may we
remember again this, it is through death that we are to enter into
glory, and it is through that passage that the Lord himself
has gone, the reason why he came into this world. And he says
to Pilate, for this cause, came I into this world, bear witness
of the truth, to lay down his life, a ransom. And so the angels
dealt with this, with these shepherds, fear not. And then they tell
them that they bring good tidings, good tidings of great joy, and
that it shall be for all people, that is Jew and Gentiles. And then they tell them what
had happened this day, is born this day in the city of David,
a savior, which is Christ the Lord. And they give a sign to
them. you shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And then, as this message
is given, suddenly, with the angel, there's a heavenly host,
a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying the words
that we have given out as our text. Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. And after this, after
this benediction, then they are taken up into heaven and the
shepherds go and visit and find exactly as was told them and
worship. So it is this benediction, this
word in verse 14, God in the highest and on earth
peace, goodwill toward men. This is what God has chosen to
put in the inspired word of God, what was appointed for the angel
to say just before they were taken up into heaven. This is the sudden appearance
of not just the one angel but the multitude of the heavenly
host. I want to look then at this word. What there is, what there shall
be, in the Lord Jesus Christ. There's three things here. Firstly,
there is glory to God in the highest. Then there is, or will
be, on earth, peace known. Or as Watts rightly puts it,
heavenly peace on earth. And then thirdly, goodwill toward
men is proclaimed. We'd always notice that the very
first thing that is mentioned is glory to God in the highest. All things that are created were
created by God and for His glory. And the chief end of man is to
glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. When we come for worship,
we come for the glory and honour of God. We should never lose
sight of this. Yes, we come to be fed, to be
instructed. We come to be with one another,
We come to serve the Lord, but we come to glorify God. In the world it is so different. They only consult to cast him
down from his excellency, but the angels in heaven, they glorify
God. We upon earth, the church of
God upon earth, are to glorify God. and we can, in the midst
of tribulation and trouble, lose sight of this. This people have
I formed for myself. They shall show forth my praise. Everyone that is chosen of God,
elected, appointed to salvation, and brought by grace to be called
and to know the Lord and to know His great salvation is called
to glorify and to praise God. And may we always remember this
in our trials, in our troubles, in our afflictions, in whatever
place that we are in. We might say we're the only place
that we can glorify God is when we have strong faith, when we
have peace, when we are in worship, when everything in Providence
is going well, when we're in the right frame. But the people
of God in the past, they have glorified God in the fires, The
martyrs did, as their bodies were being burned, as they were
departing this life, like Stephen being stoned, he glorified God,
he spoke of what he could see, the Lord standing at the right
hand of God to receive him. We think of the man that was
born blind. Only one thing he knew, whereas
he is blind, now he saw. And he had those opposing him,
casting him out, speaking against him, belittling him, deriding
him. Thou wast altogether born in
sin, and dost thou instruct us. But he glorified God. Why, herein
is a wonderful thing, a marvellous thing. Ye know not from whence
he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. And we see these pictures
of the Lord's people as he gives them a little knowledge, a little
light, a little understanding and calls them, that they immediately
begin to speak well of the Lord and to glorify him and to praise
him. And we see it again and again
in the Lord's coming and in the record that we have in this chapter. And so the angels They show the
way, they show us the pattern, they show us what should be the
chief in our mind. And that when we have those things
that will make us doubt and fear, or listen to Satan, then we are
to remember this. We are to glorify God, even in
our sorrows, our tribulations, our troubles, our perplexities. The Lord in Paul's case when
he had the messenger of Satan, a thorn in the flesh, to buffet
him. He glorified God there. He glorified
the grace of God. God gave him grace. He said,
therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities when I am weak
than am I strong. The Lord was glorified even in
him. And so we think of this. what
the angels say, glory to God in the highest. What are some
of those ways in which the glory at this specific time was? Well, the first thing is that
the promises, all the hopes and all the fears, as the hymn writer
of the years, they all meet in thee at this time and the Lord
at this night when the Lord is born. the promises of God, the
seed of the woman that should bruise the serpent's head, 4,000
years of prophecy, expectancy, type, shadows, and now the Lord
has fulfilled what he said and he has come. The wonderful plan
of salvation that is being unfolded here, although another 33 years
before Christ should suffer and put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. Here is God on his way. Here
is God beginning to work. Here is the proclamation of the
set time and season things have been put into process. And may
we translate that into many things in our lives because very often
Like it was the case with the children of Israel in Egypt,
when Moses was first sent to them, they rejoiced, they praised
God. Then there was many trials before
they were eventually brought down. But they were very clear,
when Moses was sent to them, God was on his way. He'd remembered
them. And in fact, if they only but
knew it, 80 years before, when Moses was born, God was on his
way. He was working then. And we know
the Lord's work, when it's unveiled like this, this is not the first
part of it. It goes back, why it goes back
to eternity. This is an important unfolding
of what the Lord had planned and had purposed. And it's come
to light, it's beginning to be seen. And those are precious
times. when the Lord's work begins to
appear where it is seen. But may we always remember that
before it is seen, there's been many things that have been going
on and happening in secret before it is made manifest. But here
is the right time to glorify God when it is actually seen. The wonderful plan of salvation,
the gift of his beloved Son, This is a wonder, the heavens
looking upon this. What a wonder that must have
been to them. They understood it more than
what man could, that God manifest in the flesh, Emmanuel, God with
us, that he should humble himself so low, that he should come in
this way and in this form and take on him flesh and dwell among
us. What a wonder for the angels
to see this plan being wrought out and unfolded before their
eyes. A glory to God in what he is
doing for sinners. May we ever remember this. What the Lord is doing is for
sinners, rebellious sinners, enemies to God by nature, haters
of God, those who have no right to the tree of life. They have
no right to the blessings but by grace, by mercy, by the kindness
of God. And this is God's glory, to pass
by a matter, to forgive sin, to find a way of reconciliation,
to bring God and man reconciled. This is God's glory and what
he has done. It's the angels, they see. They see in Christ. all of the people of God saved. The wonder that the Lord has
done this and how he has done it. This is the blessing, this
is the glory, this is what they show us the way that we should
begin. Begin our devotions, begin when
we come into new paths. It is the Lord's glory in all
that he does. We can't see that the Lord does
things and is not for his honour and glory. What if at the end
of time there could be seen, as we look over time, well, that
was permitted or that was done and that wasn't to the glory
of God, that detracted from his glory? No. There will not be
anything that detracts from the glory of God. Glory to God in
the highest. As if they would say there's
glory, we proclaim it on earth, but there's glory in heaven,
there's joy in heaven. We are the heavenly host, they
will be saying, and we are bringing this joy we depart from you we
go up into heaven but do we stop do we stop praising do we stop
no we don't that's still going on in heaven in his temple everyone
does speak of his glory in heaven and on earth as well so in the
birth of our lord and in this benediction the very first thing
there is in the highest and may this thought remain with us that
this should be the first thing in all that we pass through and
in our worship and in our gatherings our first desire should be in
what we do and what we say and what we are caused to pass through
that this is to the glory of God. May we be kept and though
Sometimes we, like the saints of old, may utter like dear Jacob,
all these things are against me. Yet may we be helped to believe
that the Lord will bring good out of evil and that he shall
be glorified in these things. And of course we can look at
accounts like dear Jacob where the perplexities, sorrows, bereavements
come first and then he sees Joseph and he sees what God has done,
God's plan, God's overall plan. And this then is a lesson to
us and to look to glorify God even in those things we cannot
yet understand and cannot fathom. Glory to God in the highest. The second thing that is in the
benediction is that there will be on earth peace known. And the words there doesn't say
peace on earth, it says on earth peace. And like we said concerning
Isaac Watts rendering of it a heavenly peace. Our Lord sums it up at
the end of John 16, verse 33, where he says, in me you shall
have peace, in the world you shall have tribulation, but be
of good cheer, I have overcome the world. And it is very, very
evident when we look at the world We do not see peace and our Lord's
own prophecies, the signs of the end of the times, that there
shall be wars and rumours of wars, nation rising against nation,
great tribulations, and indeed all the history of the Church
of God, of the children of Israel, was anything but peace and our
Lord's coming has not resulted in a peace on earth. The Lord in fact said, think
not that I am come to give peace on earth, nay rather division,
for henceforth there shall be the father against the son, the
son against the father, mother against her daughter. The near relations where the
Lord calls by grace, where he brings his people out, where
he separates, then there'll be the enmity and hatred of those
who know not the Lord against the Word. The Lord has said,
I've given them thy word, and the world hath hated them. And
that world, it begins, a man's enemies shall be they of his
own household, those that are very near unto him, those that
have known that person. In unregeneracy, when the Lord
calls, then they're their enemies. The apostle Paul found that out. He was the persecutor of the
people of God. But when he was converted and
he became numbered amongst the people of God, then those that
were his friends and accomplices, they turned against him. And
anything but peace immediately had trouble. Immediately, he
had those seeking his life. And so the peace that is to be
expected is not a peace amongst men or between the Lord's people
and the world, but it is to be a peace in the soul. The promise
in Isaiah is that all thy children shall be taught of the Lord and
great shall be the peace of thy children. Our Lord is spoken
of as the God of peace. In Hebrews, we have set forth
now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord
Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood
of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good
work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing
in his sight through Jesus Christ through this dear babe that we
have in Bethlehem born and is finished in this verse to whom
be glory forever and ever amen and when Paul he writes to the the Philippians, he speaks there
of the God of peace. He said, those things which ye
have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do,
and the God of peace shall be with you. And before that, he
has exhorted them, be careful for nothing, But in everything
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known unto God, and the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus. Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in
thee. and inward peace and quietness. And when God gives peace, who
then can make trouble? The peace that our Lord brings
is between God and that soul. By nature, we're at enmity, we're
at war with Him, but in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is peace.
There's an illustration of this that Paul, when he writes to
the Ephesians, and he says of them with the Jews and with the
Gentiles, that it is through the Lord Jesus Christ. He says,
but now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made
nigh by the blood of Christ. That is, Gentiles far off are
now made nigh 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, that he might reconcile both unto God, Jew
and Gentile, 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." This is the Lord Jesus Christ,
His work, is preaching peace through His cross. The hymn writer
says, peace by His cross, has Jesus made the Church's everlasting
King. The Lord Jesus Christ, by what
he was to do upon earth, was to bring about peace, by satisfying
justice, by being made like unto his brethren, sin accepted, And
by suffering the penalty that was due to them, his sacrifice
is spoken of as a propitiation for sin, a wrath-ending sacrifice. It takes away the wrath of God. God and sinners reconciled. And it cannot be unless that
debt is paid. It cannot be unless justice is
done. It cannot be unless it be done
righteously, unless it be done in a holy way. And the work of
our Lord Jesus Christ does that, and it brings about peace. It
is not just a empty spoken word, but it has substance to it. There is a reason for peace,
and the effect of it is where it is felt in the soul, where
that soul realises peace. And often it is at a contrast. The trouble, the lack of peace,
the condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. You think of the contrast with
our Lord in the boat, when there was The disciples, he was asleep,
they woke him. The waves were coming in, they
were like to be lost. The waves, the billows. No peace,
trouble, anxious, carest thou not that we perish? And he rose,
rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. What
a contrast, what a difference. And he's in that difference spiritually
as well. We realize the peace of God,
the quietness. We've gone days struggling with
corruptions of our heart, the evil, wicked workings of a corrupt
base, lustful, evil mind. And then the Lord has come and
given such quietness and peace, and it's all gone. And the peace
of God has been in the soul, and to enjoy the things of God.
But before that, we have no power. to deliver ourselves from the
evil and the corruptions of our heart. We can have troubles,
troubles without, everything seeming to be against us. And
the Lord then gave an inward peace, an inward persuasion of
his being in control and of the outcome to his honour and glory. And that brings peace. Instead
of anxiousness, instead of full of care, then there is quietness
and peace and rest in the Lord. And this is what the angels declare,
that on this earth, this sin-cursed earth, in the midst of tribulation,
with Satan around, with the world around, with a wicked, evil heart,
there shall be known through this babe of Bethlehem, through
the Lord Jesus Christ, in poor sinners' hearts, this blessing
of peace, not abiding and felt always, not realised always in
the soul, but precious sweet moments, times of real peace,
and then by faith realising that peace of God and those times
that it is really enjoyed. This is what is part of this
benediction. Of course, with the people of
God, what is remaining for them is everlasting peace, eternal
peace, peace in heaven. Here below, we only look for
a little foretaste of it. We read in Hebrews, we see not
yet all things put under him, but we see Jesus. We see him. who was praised and glorified
here and it is through him that we have peace. Glory to God in the highest and
on earth peace. Well the last part of the benediction
is the goodwill toward men. You know sometimes when Perhaps
people do things against us when they've hurt us, whether in words
or in actions, and we look upon them. It's very hard for us to
feel much goodwill toward them. We can't think many good thoughts
towards them. Hard to put nice words towards
them when we feel such bitterness or hurt or injury through them. But when we think of what we
have done as fallen creatures to God, how we have rebelled
against him, we have gone every one our own way, and he had laid
on him the iniquity of us all. When we struggle with having
goodwill to our fellow creatures, May we think of this, how God
has goodwill toward men, toward sinners, toward his enemies. God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We read before of preaching peace
through Jesus Christ. When our Lord ascended up into
heaven, he commissioned his disciples to go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned. The Lord's
good will in the gospel, in the proclaiming of the gospel, is
to all men. We read that we are to pray for
all men, whether kings or those in authority, for God will have
all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now what is meant, God will not
have every individual But every type of man, that is the contrast,
that is what is set before us in that context. Kings, rulers,
poor people, rich people. We are never to say when the
gospel is proclaimed, when the Lord will have goodwill to men,
this is only to the Jews, it's only to the Gentiles, it's only
to us in England, it's only to the gospel standard Baptists.
No, it is toward all men. But it is subject, in the purpose
and will of God, to those who were chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world, those whom He has loved with
an everlasting love, according to the sovereignty of God, this
goodwill toward men. He is, in one sense, the Saviour
of all men, especially of them that believe. If the Lord Jesus
Christ had not come, then the world could not have continued.
Those that hate him, they still eat the food he gives them. They
still have the health and strength he gives them. He is good to
all. His tender mercies are over all
his works. He openeth his hand. He satisfies
the desire of every good thing. He is good to all. His common grace is over all. that His special saving grace
is toward His people. But in the proclamation of the
Gospel, it is to be proclaimed universally that Christ came
not into the world to condemn the world, but that through Him
the world might be saved, that is, all peoples. He is the only Saviour that this
world has known and will know there is none other name given
among men whereby we must be saved. Amen, that will look upon
those universal texts of proclamation throughout the world, and they
will apply it as if Christ died for every man, woman, and child,
and desires the salvation of everyone, and helplessly looks
on, waiting for them, to respond to his salvation. Well, the Word
of God clearly teaches that natural man does not, will not respond. His will is perverse. It is only
towards evil. It is not towards good in any
way at all. And God's salvation doesn't pick
us up from the point of having enough faith to respond and to
believe. It saves us from being dead in
trespasses and sins. The Lord gives life. He saves
unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him. And the only
way they come, our Lord is very clear. None come unto me except
the Father which sent me. Draw him, and I will raise him
up at the last day. The sovereignty of God The election
of God is very clear in the Word of God. If it wasn't for that,
no one would be saved. But the means of grace is very
clear as well. And we should never preach or
never think that we must know whether we are elect or not before
we can hear the Gospel, before we can know anything of the things
of God. God's people, their election
is known by calling. and wherever he makes the need
known, wherever there is one that feels their sinnership,
that says, like the Philippine jailer, what shall I do to be
saved? Out of real anxious, real care,
not just light, flippant, wanting to continue in this world with
all its sinful, lustful pleasures and just be saved at the end.
But those that feel their sinnership and really want to be saved from
sin, delivered from sin. When they feel that, when the
Lord has opened their eyes to see it and to realise their condemnation,
to say with the Apostle Paul, who shall deliver me from this
body of death? To them this gospel of peace
is proclaimed. The Lord came not to destroy
men's lives, but to save them. And in the gospel we must set
forth that good will toward men. Now you might have some objections
in this because when the Lord appeared to Gideon when Midian
was oppressing mightily the children of Israel and he addressed him
as the mighty man of valor and he's said the good towards Israel,
and Gideon immediately said, well, if thy blessing is upon
us, if we truly are, then why are all of these things happening?
Why is all of this? And the Lord commissioned him
to be the means to deliver them from out of the hand of Midian. But we can be like that. We can
look at things in our lives, cross providences, and we can
say, how can God's good will be in this? We mentioned about
Jacob, all these things are against me. Well, at the end of that
matter, Joseph says, God sent me before you to preserve your
lives by a great deliverance. You think of all that Joseph
had gone through, Jacob had gone through, then his brothers went
through, And you could stamp goodwill upon every part of that. You think of Jacob before, when
Laban deceived him regarding Rachel, gave him Leah, then he
had Rachel. Where was the goodwill of the
Lord in that? Well, from those two and their
handmaids came the 12 tribes of Israel. And in the world we
shall have tribulation. that the Lord turns that about
for good. He makes it his servants. He
brings, though David sins in numbering Israel, he brings him
to know where the temple is to be built. And so we can have
these objections, but we must remember sin does remain here
below. It is still under the curse. We still have tribulation, and
the Lord's good will comes right through this tribulation. Tribulation working right, produce
a patient mind. He must do much tribulation. If need be, through fiery trials,
be in heaviness, through manifold trials and troubles. It's good for us to look over
God's dealings with Israel and to think, well, Goodwill is over
these things, and yet they're very difficult paths. And it
needs faith to realize this, but this is the message from
heaven. Goodwill toward man. Let us not
contradict it. Let us not turn it about. And especially for his dear people,
in Jeremiah's day, he saw what God was doing in chastening in
dealing with his people, taking them out of their land, putting
them to Babylon. But his goodwill was there. He
gave them tokens, buying of land. They would buy land again. After
70 years, he'd bring them back. And then we have in the Lamentations
that he does not delight to crush underfoot the sons of men. No, he doesn't, just for no reason
at all, cause them to go through trials and troubles. with Peter,
with Satan's sieve even, when thou art converted, strengthen
thy brethren. I prayed for thee that thy faith
fail not. We might think with the Lord
at goodwill toward poor Peter, he'd stop him from denying his
Lord, wouldn't he? But no. And so we must have a
scriptural view of the outworking of the Lord's goodwill toward
his people. You think of Psalm 107. All what
they, they fell down because of their sin, none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and then he delivered them. And at the end,
whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall
understand the loving kindness of the Lord. There's a lot in
this, this benediction. Glory to God in the highest. the expectation of a heavenly
and inward peace in the midst of tribulation, and a knowledge
that whatever we pass through, the Lord has good will toward
his people. He is not angry with them. He's not dealing with them to
destroy them, but to save them. And the gospel message is not
like the law. Mary was remember that the law
is full of terrors. It's full of judgment and the
least transgression receive that retribution and death. But in
the gospel, there's mercy, there's grace, there's forgiveness, there's
pardon that he might be feared. The Lord's goodwill. and especially
when he is called, if he has given us those tokens of being
called, of being quickened into life, helps that we've already
had, an Ebenezer that we can raise up, may this word be real
help to us this morning. Goodwill toward men, the Lord's
goodwill toward us, the things that we look at, that we fear,
that we fear the Lord is against us, goodwill toward men, not
crushing undefeat. But in the end, the Lord's desire
for his people when he suffered, bled and died for them, is that
they might be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory. And so this glory in the highest
that these angels saw, eventually every blood-bought son, every
blood-bought one of his family will see that glory. This is
not a long text, and there's just three main points in it,
but they're very helpful points and needful points for us in
this wilderness journey in the midst
of tribulation, glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, goodwill toward men. Amen. Hymn, 518. Tune, Hart's 468. 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.