for the coming week are God willing
as follows. Mr. Graham Cottingham will preach
here next Lord's Day at 10.30 and two o'clock. Pastor will
preach here on Thursday evening at seven o'clock. And there'll
be a prayer meeting here on Tuesday evening at seven o'clock. The collection taken on Friday
at our Thanksgiving services for the Christian Institute amounted
to £1,005. The collections and online giving
for the cause during August amounted to £2,475 and donations to the
book fund amounted to £95. We sincerely thank you for your continuous support for
this cause of truth. Let us commence our services
today by singing together hymn 750. The tune is Rose Hill, 210. Come ye that know and fear the
Lord, and lift your souls above, that every heart and voice accord
To sing that God is love. Hymn 750. Tune Rose Hill, 210. God be that Thou, and be that
Thou, and lift your souls above, and lift your souls above. With hope and voice of hope To
sing that glorious song to sing that God is love, to
sing that God is love. This precious truth ♪ His helping
hand ♪ ♪ And on this passage through ♪ ♪ And on this passage
through ♪ ♪ Jesus, our dear God ♪ Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter,
Peter, to show that God is love, to
show that God is love. May all these days ♪ Sheds faint and light ♪ ♪ To
those who call him home ♪ ♪ To those who call him home ♪ ♪ I
call him home ♪ the house to teach them God is love, to
teach them God is love. I have from heaven, I have from
heaven come. and to receive from those who
love. Her grace and all is love. Her
grace and all is love. Her name's that God is love. Her name we hope of giving up, It's best of guessing true. It's
best of guessing true. Still hope abounds in brighter
worlds. Shall shall have God is love
Shall shall have God is love Shall shall have God is love Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Paul's epistle to the Ephesians in chapter
4. The epistle to the Ephesians,
chapter 4. I therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith
you are called with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering,
forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity
of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and
one spirit, even as you are called, in one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who
is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every
one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of
Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led
captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended,
what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth? he that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill
all things. And he gave some apostles and
some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to
and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the
slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive,
but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body fitly
joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth,
according to the effectual working in the measure of every part,
maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in
love. This I say therefore, and testify
in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk
in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them because of the blindness of their heart, who
being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness
to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so
learned Christ, if so be that ye have heard him, and have been
taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that ye put off concerning
the former conversation of the old man, which is corrupt, according
to the deceitful lusts. and be renewed in the spirit
of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore, putting
away lying, speaking every untruth with his neighbor, for we are
members one of another, be ye angry and sin not. Let not the
sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil.
Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labour, working
with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to
give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good, to the use
of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve
not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath
and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you
with all malice. And be ye kind one to another,
tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word Grant unto us a spirit of real prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art and art to come, we bow before thy glorious majesty,
Father, Son and Holy Ghost. We thank thee for those precious
words, these three are one, one blessed, almighty and eternal
From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. We come to bow
before thy glorious majesty, the King of kings and the Lord
of lords, the creator of the heavens and the earth, in whom
we live and move and have our being. We come to bow before
thy glorious and holy majesty. We come unto thee, O Lord, under
a deep sense of our own sinfulness. and wretchedness and unrighteousness. Oh, we do pray that Thou wouldst
deliver us from our sin, that we may be enabled by Thy grace,
by Thy Spirit, to put off the old man which is corrupt and
to put on the new man. Oh, we do pray that that may
be the case here today as we meet together for divine worship
We pray for grace to lay aside every weight and the sin that
does so easily beset us and that we might run with patience the
race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. Oh Lord, we do pray that we may
lay hold of our Lord Jesus Christ today. And as we, as the word
of truth is ministered and preached, we pray that we may touch the
hem of His garment and draw from that sacred fullness of grace
that is in Him. We pray that we may be edified
as we gather round Thy Word and that we may be united together
and that we may each be found endeavouring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We pray that the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God our Father and
the sacred fellowship of the Holy Spirit may rest and abide
upon us for thy great name's sake. We pray, most gracious
Lord, to be led of the Spirit of God, for as many as are led
by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. We pray, most
blessed Spirit, that thou wouldst convince us of our sin, and lead
to Jesus' blood and to our wandering eyes reveal the secret love of
God. Lord, we do pray that we may
feel and know those divine drawings of our heavenly Father, drawing
us unto his best beloved and all-glorious Son, and that we
might be favoured as it was with those dear disciples who met
together and the doors being shut. And Jesus stood in the
midst and said, Peace be unto you. Lord Jesus, come and stand
in our midst here today. We pray for any that cannot meet
with us today, that thou wouldst be with them where they are.
And that we pray for those in affliction, that they may know
thy healing hand and thy supporting mercy. And we pray, most gracious
Lord, that they will remember us as a church and as a congregation. We pray for our dear brethren,
the deacons, that grace, wisdom, and help may be given to them
in all their responsibilities. We pray for our dear sister here,
who has brought her to her 80th birthday today. And we pray that
she may be blessed in her own soul on this day, and that she
may be enabled to say and realize this is a day that the Lord has
made. We will be glad and rejoice in
it. We pray, most gracious Lord, that thou wouldst bless the little
ones and the children, that thou wouldst graciously open their
hearts to receive thy word, that thou wouldst put the fear of
the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, into their hearts.
We pray for the young friends, that they may be blessed of thee,
taught of thee, led by thee, that they may be brought to living,
vital, saving faith in Jesus Christ. We pray for the prodigals
that have wandered away, that thou would stretch out thy almighty
arm and cause them to be in wonder and cause them to return unto
the sanctuary. Lord, there are none that are
beyond thy power, the power of thy grace, the power of thy love,
the power of thy mercy. O most gracious Lord, make bare
thine holy arm in this dark day in which we live. Send out the
light, glory, and power of gospel truth into this village, and
the surrounding villages and hamlets, and grant that many,
many, many precious souls may yet be gathered in, and the strongholds
of Satan pulled down, and the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ
set up in the hearts of sinners. Fulfill those wonderful gospel
promises. I will bring thy sons from far,
and thy daughters from the ends of the earth. They shall come
from the north and from the south and from the east and from the
west. O Lord, do hear us, we pray thee. Remember parents who
give grace to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord. Remember all that are in the
midst of the journey of life and graciously meet with them,
speak to them, bring them to thy feet as poor needy sinners. and to know our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, do hear us, Lord, we pray
thee. Remember those of us that are
now in the evening time of life's journey and do be gracious unto
us and guide us, O thou great Jehovah. We're pilgrims in a
barren land. Guide us safely unto thy heavenly
kingdom. Deliver us from an evil heart
of unbelief. Deliver us from the power and
dominion of sin. Make us more spiritually minded.
Set our affections on things above. Help us to love each other,
serve each other. Bear each other's burdens, thereby
fulfilling the law of Christ. Lord, remember all thy servants
today as they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls of
Zion. Set them free. Set them at liberty. We do humbly beseech thee. Grant
signs to follow the preaching of the word. We pray, most gracious
Lord, that Thou, the great Lord of the harvest, would send true
labourers into the harvest and build the walls of Jerusalem.
Lord, there is nothing too hard for Thee. Turn our captivity
as the streams in the sound. O Lord, we do beseech Thee. Lord,
we do pray that Thou would remember the little hills of Zion up and
down our land, Wherever thy servants stand, wherever thy people gather,
may there be an outpouring of thy Spirit. May there be a turning
unto thee. We live in the most dark and
solemn days, when wickedness abounds on every hand. O most
gracious God, we do pray that thou wouldst bring to naught
the counsels of the ungodly. and that thou wouldst give wisdom
to our leaders and guidance and direction in all matters. Remember
our King and the royal household and bless them with that rich
grace that is in Christ Jesus. We do humbly beseech thee for
thy great namesake. Remember those that go forth
from us as a group of churches to minister the word of truth
in other nations. Remember Ian Sadler and that
great work that he does in so many different countries in the
distribution of thy word and the exposition of it. And the
orphanages, we pray that thou would supply all his returning
needs. Remember the Mombasa mission
and thy servant there, that thou would bless them, that thou would
undertake for them, that thou would grant good success to the
ministry of the word there. We pray for the Savannah Education
Trust and the great work that they're doing in Ghana in the
Christian schools. Lord, do hear us, we pray thee,
and do bless us. We thank thee for every mercy,
every favour. We thank thee for thy holy day.
This is the day that the Lord hath made, where we'll be glad
and rejoice in it. We thank thee, most gracious
Lord, for the gathering together of the people, for our little
house of prayer. Thy mercies to us each are new
every morning and great is thy faithfulness. But above all we
thank thee for Jesus Christ, the incarnation of the Son of
God, the holy life he lived as a man here upon earth. We thank
thee for the holy law he has fulfilled and honoured and magnified
and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness. in His glorious
person. We thank Thee for the holy sacrifice
of Calvary where sin has been put away and divine justice has
been satisfied and God and sinners are reconciled. We thank Thee
for the precious blood of the Lamb. He poured out His soul
unto death. Oh, we thank Thee that He has
swallowed up death in victory. He has risen from the dead. He
rose again for our justification. Gracious God, we have so much
to be thankful for. We thank Thee that He has ascended
up on high, and that such an high priest have we, who is passed
into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Be with us now, Lord,
as we turn to Thy holy word. Come and open Thy word to our
heart and to our understanding. We ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 1082. The tune is McKee 176. How sweet,
how heavenly is the sight when those that love the Lord
in one another's peace delight and so fulfil his will. Hymn 1082 to McKee 176. ♪ In the land of Israel ♪ ♪ In
the land of Israel ♪ each day and night, and shall
have no end in sight. ♪ The fallen sky ♪ ♪ From day to
day ♪ ♪ The air of light ♪ ♪ When sorrow turns ♪ ♪ Your eyes to
mine ♪ ♪ And joyful hosts their host ♪
♪ And with the heav'nly song and cry ♪ Thou finishest all
of the world, each time it dies. ♪ And take it up ♪ ♪ The joy of
the Father's love ♪ ♪ I will sing through the years
of yore ♪ ♪ When you can see a beautiful scene ♪ In every action of life. ♪ Jeremiah Christ ♪ ♪ Our God is
born of Jehovah ♪ ♪ And He is the Name of Israel ♪ Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I will direct your attention to the fourth
chapter of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians. and we'll read
verses 4, 5 and 6 for our text. The Epistle to the Ephesians,
chapter 4, reading verses 4, 5 and 6. There is one body and
one spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who
is above all, and through all, and in you all. How beautifully does the Spirit of God through
the Apostle Paul set before us the sacred spirit of love, of
union, of communion, of oneness. This is one of the great glories
of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, this oneness. this union, this communion. The Apostle John, he writes of
it in his first epistle, doesn't he? Of that union, that fellowship. He says, truly our fellowship
is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. What a mercy
if we today feel in our hearts that real true fellowship in
the gospel, that union, communion, one with another, union and communion
with our Lord Jesus Christ. There's a wonderful doctrine
of course here in the text that we have before us and that is
the doctrine of the Trinity. And the Apostle, he returns to
this theme about three or four times in the Epistle to the Ephesians,
the sacred doctrine of the Trinity. It's one of the foundation doctrines
of our most holy faith. In chapter two and verse 18,
he's speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ. He says, for through
him, We both have access by one Spirit unto the Father through
Him. We both have access by one Spirit
unto the Father. How He unites together that sacred
precious doctrine of truth and the union and the communion that
the Lord's people experience. they experience it, they feel
that love and that union and communion one with another. In John chapter 17, the Lord
Jesus Christ in that beautiful prayer, he prays for this union and he prays
for this oneness, this communion one with another. So in John
17, verse 21 that they all may be one as thou father art in
me and I in thee that they also may be one in us that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me and the glory which thou gavest
me I have given them that they may be one even as we are one
I in them and thou in me and that they may be made perfect
in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me,
and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. See this oneness. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ
prayed for, for his church and for his people. There is one
body, and one spirit, even as you're called in one hope of
your calling, One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father
of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. That's
what the Lord Jesus was praying for, I in them and thou in me.
This oneness, this is the very heart, the very center of the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the effect of the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ when experienced in the soul
of the believer. There is union and communion
with the Lord and with our brethren and sisters in Christ. So in verse 4 it says, and one
spirit, that's the glorious divine person of the Holy Ghost, In
verse 5 it says one Lord and that is the glorious person of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And in verse 6 one God and Father
of all who is above all and through
all and in you all. This wonderful effect of the
Gospel. Now the What binds us together is
love. The Apostle speaks of the love
of God being shed abroad in your hearts by the Holy Ghost. I've
often told you, and in chapter three here, verse 17, 18, and
19, were the words that the Lord first breathed into my heart.
and raise me to hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, that Christ may
dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye be rooted and grounded
in love. This is the wonderful truth,
rooted and grounded in love. Love is the golden chain that
binds those happy souls above. He's an heir of heaven that finds
his bosom glow with love. This love of Christ, rooted and
grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints
what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to
know, see my beloved friends, this is something we can know.
I often think of those words in the first epistle of John,
where he says on several occasions, we know And one of them, I often
quote it, we know that we are passed from death unto life because
we love the brethren. This is the very essence of real
religion. We love the brethren. We love
our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and in truth. And in Him we love our Heavenly
Father. We love the Spirit of God. Have
you ever felt your heart drawn out in love? It says in verse 14 in chapter three,
for this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.
It's a family. The hymn writer says, doesn't
he, there is a family on earth whose Father fills a throne.
and though a seed of heavenly birth to men they're little known and in a family you have a father
and so it is in the family of God we have our heavenly father and in a family you have brothers
and sisters they all have the same father You see, my beloved
friends, this illustration that is used in Holy Scripture to
express what the Church of Jesus Christ is and what it is that
unites us together, rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with
all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that
you may be filled with all the fullness of God. And that seems to express to
me the essence of that fullness. We read in the first epistle
of John, God is love. God is essentially love. And what God is, in his divine
attributes, he is infinitely so. And one of those divine attributes
is love. With the love of the Father,
the love of the Son and the love of the Holy Ghost. That's the
very essence of God. I remember many years ago now
reading John Owen on the love of God and he was commenting
on that word God is love and how essentially so he is love
and how it's a divine attribute but for love to be an exercise
there has to be more than one. There's the object to be loved. You see that love? in the Godhead. These three are one. The essence
of the Godhead is love. They are one in love. The Father, the Son and the Holy
Ghost, eternal love, infinite love, almighty love. And it was that infinite divine
attribute of the love of God that caused the sending forth
of His Son. We read in that very well-known
verse in John 3 verse 16, God so loved the world, He gave His
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should be saved. That's the essence of our salvation. God so loved the world, the love
of our eternal Father, and the Son of God, so love the world. He came, He willingly came as
a man here upon earth, lived as a man here upon earth. As
we looked at last week in the Galatians, made of a woman, made
under the law that He might redeem them that are under the law.
That's the infinite love of the Father and of the Son and then
the Holy Spirit. You know we often speak of the,
and it speaks of it in the Philippians doesn't it, of the wonderful
humility of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he were a son, yet learned
he obedience by the things which he suffered here upon earth. Though he were a son. But the love of the Spirit We
often dwell on the love of the Son and the humility of our Lord
Jesus Christ, quite rightly so. But do you ever stop to think
of the love of the Holy Ghost and the humility of the Holy
Ghost? How that he dwells in the heart
of every believer, That's what makes a believer. We become believers
because the Holy Ghost dwells in our hearts. And then we just
think for a moment of our hearts. And do you not find like the
prophet Jeremiah, the heart of man is deceitful above all things
and desperately wicked. And there the Holy Ghost comes
and dwells. in the filthy, wretched, sinful
heart of one of the fallen sons and daughters of Adam. What humility! What love! So, let us think for
a moment on the love of the Spirit. This wonderful love in entering
the heart of a poor sinner, in sanctifying that heart of that
poor sinner, in giving us a new nature, in quickening our souls
into life, in convicting and convincing us of our sin, in
revealing unto us the precious things of Jesus Christ, what
love there is in the Holy Ghost. In so doing, it says here in
the Ephesians, we often quote it in the second chapter, you
hath who were dead. We were spiritually dead by nature. And it's only as the Holy Spirit
comes into the heart, we're then made believers. We're then brought
to realize our lost condition by that divine power, that quickening
power, and that the Holy Ghost dwells in us. So that's what makes a believer,
the Holy Ghost dwelling in the heart, giving spiritual light,
light and light, and those wonderful graces of the Spirit. Faith is
a grace of the Spirit. He gives it to the Lord's people.
It says here in this epistle to the Ephesians, faith is the
gift of God. It's God's gift. It's the Holy
Spirit that implants faith in the heart. I shall never forget, many years
ago now, before I was in the ministry, reading that William
Gurnon was the Christian in complete armour. And this so struck me. He said the graces of the Spirit
never come in the singular. It made such an impression on
me. He says the graces of the Spirit such as faith, love, humility, these are the graces of the Spirit. Contrition are the graces of
the Spirit. Now they never come in the singular.
Repentance is another grace of the Spirit. It's a gift of God. You can't have faith without
repentance. And you can't have repentance
without faith. They never come in the singular.
These are given, they are wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit. And it says here in this chapter
that we read together, according to the effectual working in every
part. It says in verse 16, from whom
the whole body fitly joined together, the whole body is the church,
it's one body, joined together and compacted by that which every
joint supplied according to the effectual work and in the measure
of every part, make an increase of the body unto the edifying
of itself in love. This love is given. It doesn't dwell naturally in
our hearts. It's given. It's a gift. And
the Holy Ghost is called the Spirit of Love and when he dwells
in our hearts, he gives us some of that love. I think it's in
the Colossians he calls it faith that worketh by love. Faith that
worketh by love. That's how faith works. What
is love? It's our affections. Our affections
are set upon Christ. Our affections are set upon things
of art. And this is the divine work of
the Spirit in the heart. The other aspect of course of
the work of the Spirit is the convicting and convincing of
sin. And this is something that continues right the way through
the spiritual life of the believer. It's not just in the initial
stages, many there are that run away with the idea that we only
know conviction of sin at the beginning of our spiritual experience. No, it is something that deepens. We're brought again and again
to feel our sinfulness, the corruption of our nature. It's a It's something
of a deep concern and burden to the living child of God. Indwelling
sin. There's a difference my beloved
friends between indwelling sin and actually
walking in sin. Indwelling sin is in our heart.
It's in our nature. And it's a great burden to the
living child of God. It's a great trouble. It's a
great perplexity. They find things opposite to
the spirit of love. That's what troubles the believer.
Sometimes through the temptations of Satan or literally through
our own Deceitful heart, we have enmity. See it speaks here in this chapter,
be kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. It's the spirit
of Christ. But sadly, that's not always
where we are. It's where we would be, but we're
not always there. The carnal mind is enmity to
God, is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
And every believer has a carnal mind. They do. And that carnal mind is enmity
to God. It's part of our corrupt nature. And it's subject to those lusts
of the flesh. It's the carnal mind. And we
have, you know friends, when we, he speaks here in this chapter,
verse 29, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but
that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister
grace unto the hearers. No corrupt communication. Sadly,
when we're not in the spirit, corrupt communication do proceed
out of our mouth. They do. And he says in verse 31, let
all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking
be put away from you with all malice. We can't have malice in our hearts.
Anger. What we're exhorted to do as
Christian believers is to love each other. See, we have the
old man of sin which is corrupt. If you just look in here, and
it says in verse 22, that he put off concerning the former
conversation, the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful
lust. And be renewed in the spirit
of your mind that you put on, it's like taking
off a garment and putting on a garment and that you put on
the new man which after God is created in righteousness and
true holiness and then he explains really here of what it means
in verse 25 where for putting away lying that's the old man
speak every man truth with his neighbor We are members one of
another. We're brothers, we're sisters. Be angry and sin not. I remember
years ago getting a letter from a dear brother in Christ and
he'd written some things to me and I didn't agree with them
so I wrote back and I told him quite pointedly that I did not
agree at all with what he put forward. And he was so offended
because I disagreed with him He wrote back and he wasn't going
to speak to me anymore. So I wrote back to him, I said,
we're brethren. We're brothers, we're sisters
in Christ. I said, we shouldn't say I'm not going to speak to
you anymore because we have a disagreement. That's an old man, you see. And
we all have it. We all have that tendency to
be like that. It's opposite to the spirit of
love, of compassion, of kindness. That's the spirit of Christ.
Love. Think of the spirit of Christ.
Think of our Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of all his sufferings
and all his sorrows. Father, forgive them. These are the men that have just
nailed him to the cross of Calvary. That just caused him great and
tremendous pain. an agony that he was passing
through. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
You see, that's the spirit and mind of Christ. It's a spirit
of love and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven
you. there is one body and one spirit,
even as you are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above
all and through all and in you all, and in you all. I've often tried to explain to
you And usually I use the John 14 and the Lord Jesus speaking there,
and we will come unto you. We will make our abode with you.
And the we means the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
We'll make our abode with you. And I've often tried to explain
that You can't have one without the other because they are one.
You can't have the Holy Ghost dwell in your hearts and not
have the Son of God. That is totally incorrect doctrine. Nor can you have Christ without
having the Father. I and my Father are one. He that has seen the Father has
seen me. He that has seen me has seen
the Father rather. You see the Lord Jesus sets these
things very Clearly before us there is one body and one spirit
See the Church of God is one body and It is united by that
one spirit the Holy Ghost now just as it says in In verse 6
one God and father of all he was above all and through all
and in you all These things speak of the omnipresence of God. The omnipresence of the Father,
the Son and the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit dwells in every
believer's heart. He does. He's infinite. He's in all places at all times. One body. One spirit. Even as you are called in one
hope of your calling Mercy if you have been called The hymn writer says doesn't
he called effectual reach their heart each one of the living
family of God a divine call where to to Jesus Christ Divinely called As I've often explained to you,
the only evidence that we have in the Word of God that we are
chosen is that we've been called. It's the only evidence in the
Word of God. It's not because you always go
to chapel, it's not because you're always good and always obedient
and following the, and we would encourage anyone to do that,
to follow the Word of God and et cetera. What makes you a child of God?
You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and in sins. The quickening power of the Holy
Ghost in the heart, giving us spiritual light and life and
bringing us to feel our sinfulness and our emptiness and our poverty
and then to hunger and thirst after righteousness. It's a hunger
and thirst that you never used to have. But you now have it. He satisfies the longing soul. He filleth the hungry soul with
goodness. He will hear the cry of the destitute. These words explain something
of the inward work of the Spirit in the heart. You're brought
to feel that you're a sinner. You're brought to feel that you're
destitute of anything good. And then he says, you will hear
the cry of the destitute. He will not despise their prayer.
Says in Isaiah chapter 41, when the poor and needy seek water
and there is none, and their tongue faileth to thirst, I the
Lord will hear them. I will open rivers in high places
and streams in the desert. I the Lord will hear them. It's
a divine work of the Spirit. There is one body and one spirit
if you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord. One Lord. Our Lord Jesus Christ.
One faith. Where? In our Lord Jesus Christ. One baptism. One baptism. To be anointed by the Spirit. I believe that in this sense
is the meaning of the word here. One baptism. One Lord, One Faith,
One Baptism. And when it refers to Believers
Baptism, One Baptism. And that's only to persons that
have faith in Jesus Christ. It is called Believers Baptism.
Because that person has been brought to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. And to follow our Lord Jesus
Christ. In that way, one Lord, one faith,
in one God, in one Christ, one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God, Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and
in you all. Now, some may have difficulty
grasping all these particular truths. But you'll notice in
the verse seven it says, but unto every one of us is given
grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. As to how much we know our Lord
Jesus Christ, how much we lay hold of him by faith. You know, may the Lord lead us by his blessed
spirit into this wonderful union and communion. When our Lord
Jesus ascended up on high, it says here, and we read it together,
and it's a quotation, of course, from Psalm 68, a prophecy concerning
Christ. When he ascended up on high he
led captivity captive and received gifts unto men. That's our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now that he ascended, what is
it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth and by that he meant into earth itself and then into
death itself and to be buried. And I believe that's the meaning
of that. some have said that the lord jesus christ descended
into hell itself i do not believe that is correct because where
it actually quotes that that when he descended into hell it's
actually referring there are different meanings that it's
referring to hades which means the grave it doesn't mean hell
itself it means the grave and our lord jesus christ descended
into the lower parts of the earth, into the grave. He was dead,
he was buried. He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill
all things. And these are the gifts that
he gave apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some
pastors, and some teachers. Then he tells us what they were
given for, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. And then he says about the effect
of a true divinely anointed ministry, the effect to the Lord's people, for the perfecting of the saints.
till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge
of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ, the perfect man. Doesn't it remind
us of that lovely verse in Psalm 37, mark the perfect man and
behold the upright for the end of that man is peace? That's
Christ. That's Christ. He's the perfect man. Christ
is the only perfect man that ever walked on this earth. Mark
the perfect man. You see, under the measure of
the statue of the fullness of Christ. The hymn writer says,
doesn't he, a fullness resides in Jesus our head and ever abides
to answer our need. Oh, my beloved friends, there's
a fullness of grace in Christ. In the first chapter of John's
Gospel, he is full of grace and truth. He is always full of grace
and truth. And he always will be full of
grace and truth. He's full of grace. And it says
in the Epistle of James, and he giveth more grace. It's been
a good word to me over the years, friends. When one deeply feels a lack
of grace, and the lack of wisdom and the lack of understanding and he giveth more grace. There's
always more to give. There is. That we, and this gains the effect
of the ministry, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to
and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the
slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie awake to deceive.
So this is what it is to be rooted and grounded in love, in a love
of the truth, in the love of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Ghost. Love. Wonderful, precious, gospel grace,
love. And he says in verse 15, but
speak in the truth in love. One hymn writer says, unless
we do all things in love, and then we do all things in vain. You know, friends, we can sometimes
speak in a way that is harsh and hard, unfeeling, unkind. We may be speaking about the
things of the Spirit and the things of God, but we can do
it in a harsh, unkind, hard way. Unless we do all things in love,
and then we do all things in vain. But speaking the truth
in love may grow up. What a wonderful thing, to grow
in grace. grow up into Him, that's in Christ,
into Him in all things which is the head, even Christ, from
whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that
which every joint supplieth according to the effectual work in the
measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the
edifying of itself in Christ. in love. Remember my late pastor Mr John
speaking of this spirit of love and he was speaking of it in
the church of God and it's essential in the church of God you cannot
have any union or communion one with another unless there is
love one to another unless you're in union with each other And there was an old Mr. Funnell who was a member of Black
Boys Chapel, a godly, gracious man. I remember him. He was anointed for his burial. I remember it so well because
it was exactly the same time that the Lord brought me into
Gospel Liberty. And we used to sit and have our
lunch together at the lunchtime at Black Boys Chapel. to have
some wonderful times of spiritual union and communion. But many years before, something
arose, trouble in the church, and Mr. Funnell was in the wrong. But he continued in that path
until my late pastor was a very kind and very meek man, and he
wouldn't force any issues, but he let it ride for quite some
months. eventually called a church meeting
and the matter was brought before the church of the way Mr. Funnell had been behaving and he asked him if he could
answer to what had been said and he stood up in the church
meeting and he said, I am sorry. He sat down. He said it was so
genuine there was never any more trouble after that. The point
that he was making, he said those three words are the hardest things
that we can say. I am sorry. I was wrong. But that's the spirit of love.
You know, a church cannot function without it. This spirit of love,
this spirit of union, this spirit of humility, when each one esteems
each other better than themselves to be, And what makes us like
that is the work of the Spirit in the heart. You may get very troubled, I
do, about the simple inclinations of your heart, the corruption
of your nature. When the Spirit of God comes
and convinces you of it and makes you deeply feel it. But what is the effect of that
constant and continual teaching? Humility. You feel that you're nothing.
You know, friends, that's a good place to be. Many, many times, more often
than not, in the middle hymn, when I bow my head in prayer,
I feel so deeply my emptiness and poverty as a poor, wretched,
ruined sinner. And I have to confess it before
the Lord. I have to say to the Lord, don't leave me to myself. Friends, if you get just Jabez
right in the pulpit, it won't profit you at all. It's when we're filled with the
Spirit, when we're emptied of everything in ourselves. It's
a constant and continual process of the Spirit of God. And you
may say, why is it I feel so corrupt, so sinful? Why is it
that I have enmity rises up in my heart? Why is it I have such
a corrupt nature? because the Spirit dwells in
your heart. When you sin or when these corrupt
thoughts and sinful thoughts arise, He'll convict you of it. It's a wonderful mercy and it's
that, that convicting and convincing work of the Spirit that brings
us to feel our great need of Jesus Christ, our great need
of the blood of Christ that cleanses from all sin, our great need
of the glorious everlasting robe of the righteousness of Christ.
Because as you feel these things, you feel to be naked, you feel
to be unclean, you feel to be unrighteous, and you feel it's
all exposed. That's when we need that glorious
everlasting robe of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And that's when
we need that precious sinatonic blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is one body and one spirit,
even as you are called in one hope of your calling, this one
hope is Christ, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 517. The tune is Harlan 524. We bless
the Triune God the Father and the Word and Holy
Ghost, God who must ever be, the Mighty One in Three, to all
eternity, the Lord of hosts. Hymn 517, Tune Harlan 524. O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? God of eternal day, lead us with
praise. Mysterious, divine, to us thy
praise enough, now we go straight beyond in love to thee. God, we in Thee shall dwell,
may we Thy wonders tell, loyal to Thee. Open and demonstrate. Handle that patent gate. Zion from age to age. We bless the Father's name Whose
love is still the same We also praise The spirit of the world, with
its strong, proud and whole, with its solemn, sweet accord,
there ever to stay. Now may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each. Amen.