are God willing as follows. The
pastor will preach here next Lord's Day at 10.30 and 2 o'clock. Also on Thursday evening at 7
o'clock. There'll be a prayer meeting
here on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock. The collections and online giving
for July amounted to £2,924.39. The donations to the book fund
were £70. We sincerely thank you for your
continued support of this cause of truth. Let us commence our services
today by singing together hymn 683. The tune is Carlyle 17.
Great God, thy kingdom come, With reverence would we pray.
May the Eternal Three in One, His Sovereign Scepter sway. Hymn 683, Tune Carlyle, 17. With hope thy kingdom come, With
reverence for thee pray, May thee eternal thrill enwound Grades
are redempt and strange. They praise pride and fame, ♪ And Christ, exalted be ♪ ♪ Shepherds
watch her in ecstasy ♪ Thy praise shall all nations
sing. May mercy, truth, and peace Fill each meekly and small. and the sinking of all thy grace,
heaven in us control. They love and follow Thee, And
all Thy saints comply. Thy presents set in curse and
grave, come and heal me and drive Hail, all thou mighty God, Thine
on earth's heavenly Throne, Till ev'ry sinner, both good and foul,
Shall trust in Thee alone. I'll step right in and out. Then preach the Christian praise. Till all my saints have my power, Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in Paul's epistle to the Hebrews and chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. Wherefore seeing we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us
lay aside every weight and the sin which does 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, 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. For consider him that endured
such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied
and faint in your mind. ye have not yet resisted unto
blood, striving against sin, and ye have forgotten the exaltation
which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not
thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye
endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what
son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement,
or of all our partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons.
Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected
us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in
subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they verily
for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for
our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now
no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless afterward it yieldeth
the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised
thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which
hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your
feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but
let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and
holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Look indeligently,
lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness
springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. Lest
there be any fornicator or profane person, as Esau, who for one
morsel of meat sold his birthright, for ye know how that afterwards
when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected,
for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully
with tears. For you'll not come unto the
mount that might be touched and that burned with fire, nor unto
blackness and darkness and tempest and the sound of a trumpet and
the voice of words, which voice they that heard entreated that
the word should not be spoken to them any more. For they could
not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched
a mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart.
And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly
fear and quake. but ye are come unto Mount Zion,
and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men
made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant,
and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than
that of Abel, see that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if
they escape not who refused him that spake on earth, much more
shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from
heaven, whose voice then shook the earth, But now he hath promised,
saying, Yet once more I shape not the earth only, but also
heaven. This word, yet once more, signifies
the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things
that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom
which cannot be moved, Let us have grace whereby we may serve
God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is
a consuming fire. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant unto us the spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, which is an
art, an art to come, we bow before thy glorious majesty. We desire
to come in confession of our sins and our wanderings and our
backslidings. Thou art the high and lofty one
that inhabited eternity, whose name is holy. And we come to bow before thee,
for we are unholy. We would come like the publican
of old, God be merciful to me, a sinner. We come with that desire
to touch the hem of Jesus' garment. We do thank thee that there is
a new and living way that was made whereby poor sinners can
be reconciled unto thee. where those in darkness shall
find light, where those in bondage shall find liberty, when those
that are tormented shall find peace. Peace by his cross as
Jesus made, the church's ever-living head. Lord, we come then in all
our need, in all our emptiness, in all our poverty, in all our
insufficiency, in all our wretchedness. We come this day, thy holy day,
to bow before the throne of grace. We thank thee that there is a
throne of grace. We thank thee that there is the
Lord Jesus Christ, that there is a door of hope that is open
wide in Jesus' bleeding hands and side. So we come, most gracious
Lord, and pray that thou wouldst be with us here today, that thou
wouldst wash us in that precious sinatonic blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that thou wouldst clothe us in that glorious everlasting
robe of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, that we may be
complete in him, that we may be accepted in the beloved and
that the peace of God that passeth all understanding may keep our
hearts and minds through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Lord, we pray
that thou wouldst graciously remember our brethren, the deacons,
and richly bless them. We pray that thou wouldst help
them in all their concerns. And we pray for any in affliction
and pain trouble and trial and perplexity, that there would
send deliverance, that there was be Jehovah Rophi, I am the
Lord that healeth thee. Lord we pray for thy healing
touch to be known among us here today and that that heavenly
balm of the gospel may be applied to the souls of thy people We
pray that thou wouldst remember each one of our brethren and
sisters in church fellowship and grant thy rich blessing.
Grant the spirit of love and union. Bless us, Lord, as the
whole of us as a congregation. Remember us with the favour that
thou bearest unto thy people. Visit us with thy great salvation. Breathe thy word into our hearts. O Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
graciously grant that the Word may be in power in the Holy Ghost
and with much assurance, and that thou wouldst graciously
open the blind eyes and unstop the deaf ears. So work among
us, Lord, we do humbly beseech you. Remember the little ones
and the children. We thank thee for them and pray
that thou would bless them. Bless them with light and with
understanding. Bless them with a realisation
of their need as a sinner. And bless them, Lord, with that
realisation that Jesus is the way to God. Jesus is the way
to bliss. Bless the young friends. Remember
them for good. bring them to living faith in
Jesus Christ, that they may become followers of thee, and of those
who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Lord, do
hear us, we pray, for thy great namesake, and have mercy upon
us, we do beseech thee, and grant that there may be a generation
that shall be raised up that shall follow on to know the Lord
and continue worship in this house of prayer. Grant that the
prodigals may return. We earnestly beseech thee that
thou wouldst work mightily that we may have that joy to see prodigals
returning. And Lord, we pray that the glory
and light and power of gospel truth may shine into this village
and the surrounding villages and hamlets and farmsteads. Many, many precious souls may
yet be gathered in and the strongholds of Satan pulled down and the
kingdom of our Lord Jesus set up in the hearts of sinners.
Grant that that which is sown in weakness may be raised in
strength. O Lord, we do beseech Thee for
thy great namesake. Remember, Lord, we do pray thee, parents, and give wisdom and
grace to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord. Remember, all in the midst of
the journey of life, and graciously preserve and keep us. Keep us
from the allurements of the world. Keep us from the temptations
of Satan. whether as an angel of light
to deceive or as a roaring lion to devour, we pray to be delivered
from his power. We plead that precious promise
that when the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the
Lord may lift up a standard against him. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst so work mightily and powerfully and effectually
in the day in which we live. Remember those of us that are
now in the evening time of life's journey. And remember us with
the favour that thou bearest unto thy people and visit us
with thy great salvation. And grant that at the appointed
time we may have an abundant entrance into thy heavenly kingdom. Oh, do hear us, Lord, we humbly
pray thee. Maybe there's one here. And that
prayer upon their heart, prepare me, gracious God, to stand before
thy face. Thy spirit must the work perform,
for it is all of grace. Oh, that there may be that gracious
preparation for that time when we shall soar through tracks
unknown and see thee on thy judgment throne. Lord, we do pray. that thou in thy precious mercy
remember all thy servants as they labour in word and doctrine
upon the walls of Zion today. Set them free, set them at liberty,
grant that thus saith the Lord, grant that the word may be in
power in the Holy Ghost and with much assurance. We pray, Lord,
for thy servants in their labours in their journeys, that thou
wouldst anoint them that fresh anointing of the Spirit. We pray
thee, the great Lord of the harvest, to send true labourers into the
harvest and to build the walls of Jerusalem. And O Lord, we
do pray that thou wouldst graciously arise. Arise, arise, O God of
grace, into thy rest ascend. Thou in the ark of thy strength,
that thy priests may be clothed with salvation, and thy saints
shall shout aloud for joy, Lord abundantly bless the provision
of thy house and satisfy her poor with bread. We do humbly
beseech of thee. We pray most gracious Lord, that
thou in thy precious mercy, O that thou wouldst revive us again,
that thou wouldst grant the outpouring of thy Spirit, that thou wouldst
grant mighty signs and wonders to follow the preaching of the
word, that thou wouldst bring our sons from far and our daughters
from the ends of the earth. Lord, there is nothing too hard
for thee. Indeed, they are able to do abundantly
more than we can even ask or think. We pray, most gracious
Lord, remember the little hills of Zion, up and down our nation,
and O grant the outpouring of Thy Spirit wherever Thy people
gather, that there may be a turning again unto Thee in these dark
days in which we live. Remember those that labour in
word and doctrine among the nations of the earth. And that, Lord,
remember that we pray thee those that live in those countries
where the name of Christ is hated, and thy people are persecuted,
imprisoned, and even unto death. Send them help from the sanctuary. Strengthen them out of Zion.
Remember, Lord, we pray those that labour in word and doctrine. We think of those that go from
us as a group of church if we think of that great work that
is being done by Ian Sadler and the distribution of the word
of God and the running of an orphanage and in so many different
places here on earth. Lord we pray that thou would
continue to supply us every need and grant thy divine direction.
Remember, Lord, we pray thee the Mombasa mission and grant
thy blessing upon thy servant there. And remember the Savannah
Education Trust and that great work that they're doing in Ghana.
Oh, do hear us, Lord, we humbly pray thee. Remember our nation,
Lord, our leaders. Grant divine direction. We thank thee. that the King's
heart is in the hand of the Lord and he turneth it with us wherever
he will. Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst bless our King with
that rich grace that is in Christ Jesus and that thou wouldst bless
the whole of the royal household and give our leaders wisdom and
understanding. We do humbly pray thee. Lord,
we thank thee for every mercy and every favour We thank Thee
for the throne of grace. We thank Thee for our Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh, we thank Thee for that profound
mystery of God manifest in the flesh. We thank Thee for His
holy life and the holy law fulfilled in it. He will magnify the law
and make it honourable. We thank Thee, Lord Jesus, for
what Thou hast done in bringing in everlasting righteousness
for Thy people. We thank Thee for the sacred,
sin-atoning sacrifice of Calvary, where the Lamb was slain, where
sin was put away, where divine justice has been satisfied. We
thank Thee that He died for our sins and rose again for our justification
and has bodily ascended into heaven and sitteth at Thy right
hand. We have a great High Priest,
who is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Oh, do hear us now, Lord, and
come and touch one's lips with a live coal from off the heavenly
altar. We ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 637. The tune is Sheffield 235. Jesus, thou art our only rest
from sin and guilt and fears. We love to lean upon thy breast
and on thee cast our cares. 637, tune Sheffield 235. He is the Son of the Father,
and the Son of the Holy Ghost, God's King and Lord of Hosts. There's a love to win, I know
I can, And I'll be most glad when ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ Rejoice,
rejoice, rejoice! ♪ ♪ Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice! ♪ O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? ♪ With the home of the brave ♪
♪ And the home of the brave ♪ O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last
gleaming? At last all nature hath opened,
And heaven and earth are singing, And heaven and earth are singing,
♪ You have drawn her ♪ ♪ The vision from me ♪ ♪ It's like when I was young
♪ ♪ And righteousness divine ♪ ♪
The hope of man ♪ ♪ The hope of nature ♪ ♪ Your love always speaks twice
to me ♪ ♪ How precious you are to me ♪ from hill to mountain, rich with
tears and pain, sing glory to you. O praise the Lord, all ye people,
full of faith, full of love, now and ever. Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the epistle
to the Hebrews in chapter 12, and we'll read verses 22 and
23, 24 for our text. Hebrews chapter 12, verses 22,
23, and 24. but ye are come unto Mount Zion,
and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men
made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant,
and to the blood of Sprinkly, that speaketh better things than
that of Abel. If we just look back firstly to
verse 18, for you'll not come unto the mount that might be
touched and that burned with fire. There are seven things
in here that the Holy Spirit sets before us concerning the
law of God and the giving of the law of God on Mount Sinai.
And the Apostle here is giving us a very stark comparison. But
ye are not come unto the mount mount that might be touched but
ye are come unto mount Zion, unto the city of the living God. The law came by Moses but grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ and the apostle here has given
us that comparison between these two and these seven things that
he mentions concerning the law of God you're not come unto the
mount that might be touched and firstly that burned with fire
nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest. What a vivid way
of describing the law of God and you know the children of
Israel when they received the law of God on Mount Sinai how solemn it was, thundering,
lightning, the curse of God. The law, my beloved friends,
cannot give us life. It commands, it demands, but
it cannot give the power to fulfill those commands. We've often explained
to you the meaning of the word transgression. The idea behind
the word transgression is that it's a boundary that the Lord
has set around man. And when have say animals in a field and
you put a hedge around it a fence around it that that is a boundary
is set for those in that field and if if one of them breaks
out of that field and breaks through the boundary which sometimes
they do they transgress the boundary. Now the law of God is a boundary
that God has put around man, every one of us. And if we break that boundary,
if we break that holy righteous law, if we break the ten commandments
of God, James in his epistle, he says if we commit one sin,
break one of those holy laws, we are guilty of all. We are
guilty of all. and you see the law is our schoolmaster. Unto Christ the law is our schoolmaster. What does a schoolmaster do?
Imparts knowledge and under the divine work of the Spirit of
God, the divine person of the Spirit of God uses the law to
convince us of our sin and to bring us to understand
that we've broken God's holy law and to get us to understand that
because we've broken God's holy law we come under its solemn
curse as the word declares cursed is every man that doeth not all
things that is written in the book of the law to do them. One
hymn writer says, doesn't he? Cursed be the man, forever cursed
that does one willful sin commit. It's a very solemn thought, isn't
it? For ye are not come, what a mercy, ye are not come, unto
the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire. nor
into blackness and darkness and tempest. I look back into my
own personal experience and I had what we commonly know among us
a law work when I was a young man and for two years under that
law and I felt the darkness and the
bondage the blackness and the torment is what there is under
the law my beloved friends there is no hope under the law how
can you hope deluded souls to see what none else saw to be
reconciled unto God through the works of the law is an utter
impossibility what a mercy if the Lord teaches us that What a mercy if we have been
brought to know and to understand this, for you are not come unto
the mount that might be touched and that burned with fire, nor
unto blackness and darkness and tempest and the sound of a trumpet. There was a trumpet blown as
a sound of warning, the sound of a trumpet and the voice of
words. That's the voice of God. which
voice they that heard entreated that the word that is the word
of the law should not be spoken to them anymore for they could
not endure that which was commanded neither can you and I you know every one of us having
been born in sin shaping in iniquity we come under the curse of that
holy, righteous law of God. You see, they could not endure
that which was commanded. Least so much as a beast touch
the mountain, that's the Mount Sinai, it shall be stoned or
thrust through with the dart. You think of the words of the
Lord Jesus when he speaks of the holy law of God. Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, and thy neighbor
as thyself. Do you do that? Can you do that?
Can you love the Lord your God every hour, every moment, every
day, every night, every week, every month, continually to love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart and thy neighbor. as thyself. Can you do that? You know, my beloved friends,
we cannot do that. You might say, you young people,
you may ask a question, you say, well, why has God given a law
that we cannot keep? Adam, in his state of innocency
before he fell, was capable of fulfilling God's law of living
according to its precepts and its commands. But he fell into
sin. He fell into sin, what is known
as the fall of man. And we read that Adam and Eve
knew that they were naked. They covered themselves. They knew that they were naked
before a holy God who could see them just as they are. Thou God seest me, the Lord he
looks right into the heart of every one of us. And what does the Bible say about
our hearts since that fall of Adam? They say that has rendered
us The fall of Adam has rendered us incapable of fulfilling the
holy law of God. We can't do it. It's impossibility. Therefore we must come under
its curse. Therefore we must be damned forever. The soul that
sinneth it shall die. As in Adam all die. That's why you and I will die,
because we're sinners. As in Adam, we'll die. You see, and so terrible was the sight,
that Moses said, Moses, one of the meekest man that there ever
was, I exceedingly fear What a solemn place is Mount
Sinai, isn't it? What a solemn place is the law
of God. Now, my beloved friends, there
is nothing wrong with the law of God. The wrong is in us. We're sinners in our very birth.
And the definition in Holy Scripture of sin is found in the first
epistle of John, sin is any transgression of the law of God. That's what
sin is. We've all sinned, we've all transgressed
God's holy righteous law, therefore we all come under the solemn
curse of God's holy law. But what a message we have here
before us this morning, but ye are not come unto the mount that
might be touched, that burned with fire, nor unto blackness
and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the
voice of words, which voice they that entreated that the word
should not be spoken of anymore, for they could not endure that
which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched
a mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart.
And so terrible was the sign that Moses said, I exceedingly
fear and quake. How many among us here have known what it is to exceedingly
fear and quake, at the holiness of God, at the righteousness
of God, at the power of God. But ye are come unto Mount Zion. Ye are not come unto the mountain
that might be touched. What is found in Mount Zion verse
24 and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant. The law
is the old covenant. Covenant and testament are the
same words. They mean the same thing. So
we have the old testament and we have the new testament or
the old covenant and the new covenant. The old covenant is
the covenant of the law. The new covenant is the covenant
of grace. The Lord promised when he was
in Ezekiel and he promised in Jeremiah that a new covenant
will I make with you. A new testament. That's the covenant,
the eternal covenant that is ordered in all things and sure
that is sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ. Here in the Hebrews in chapter
13, in verse 20, it says, 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. The
blood of Jesus Christ is the blood of the everlasting covenant. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
son, cleanseth us from all sin. But ye are not come unto the
mount, but ye are come unto Mount Zion. Mercy, peace, salvation,
redemption, reconciliation. Jesus said, I am the way, the
truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father,
but by me. but by me. But he had come to Mount Zion.
You know in Jerusalem there is the Mount Moriah which
is where the temple of the Lord was built and there is Mount
Zion which was the seat of David and his seed, the king. And those
two beautiful things in Jerusalem, Mount Moriah or the Temple Mount
as it's called now and Mount Zion, typical of Christ. One represents the Temple Mount,
represents the glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ as our
great High Priest who is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son
of God, And then the other one, Mount
Zion, represents the King, Jesus as King, our great King and Head
of the Church. There are three very distinct
offices that the Son of God assumed when he became a man. One was
that of a King, and one was that of a priest, and the other was
that of a prophet. And under the Old Testament,
being typical of the New Testament, it was required that a king had
to be anointed with oil, that a priest had to be anointed with
oil, and that a prophet had to be anointed with oil. The reason
being for that was it was pointing to Christ who would become the
prophet, priest, and king of his people. And those two mounts
In Jerusalem, Mount Moriah and Mount Zion represent our great
High Priest and the King of Glory, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. But ye are come unto Mount Zion
and unto the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
not the earthly Jerusalem, but the heavenly Jerusalem. The apostle speaks of the heavenly
Jerusalem in the epistle to the Galatians and Jerusalem which
is above is the mother of us all. And it's the wonderful glory
of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the fullness that is in that
gospel. But you'll come unto Mount Zion
and unto the city of the living God. We worship a living savior. We don't worship a dead saviour.
We worship a saviour that lived and suffered and bled and died
for the sins of his people. But we worship a saviour that
rose from the dead. He has destroyed death and him
that had the power of death, that is the devil. This glorious
living saviour, this living Christ who has the power of an endless
life. The power of an endless life.
I am come that they, that is His children, might have life,
and they might have it more abundantly. In Him is life. He that hath
the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. What stark words we are given
in Holy Scripture, setting before us the glorious truth. In Him
is life. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. our Lord Jesus Christ but you'll
come unto Mount Zion. The Lord Jesus in his holy life
fulfilled the holy law of God. It's a fundamental doctrine of
our most holy faith that he did no sin. He was without sin in
his birth, it was a virgin birth and he was without sin in his
birth. We are sinful by our very birth as the psalmist confesses
with we are born in sin and shapen in iniquity but this man the
glorious holy god man the man christ jesus that we read in
luke chapter one that holy thing that shall be born of thee that
holy thing why is it called a thing there's a very fundamental reason
for that, friends, that that language is used, that holy thing. It's because that holy human
nature that was formed by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the
Virgin was the human nature of the Son of God. We've often tried
to explain to you that when the Son of God assumed human nature
and became bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. When the
Holy Ghost overshadowed the womb, there's not two persons. There's
not a human person and a divine person in Christ. That holy human
nature that the Son of God assumed in the womb of the Virgin never
had any existence separate to the Son of God. As soon as the Holy Ghost overshadowed
the womb of the Virgin, the Son of God assumed that seed. And
it was his own personal human nature. So we don't see two persons,
we see one person, the Son of God, but two natures, a divine
nature and a human nature. It was his own personal human
nature. And it was in that personal human
nature He fulfilled the law. I love the way the apostle puts
it in Galatians, made of a woman, made under the law that he might
redeem them that are under the law. The son of God, when he
became a man, when he assumed human nature, he was made under
the law and he lived under the holy righteous law of God. And
the purpose of that was that he could then fulfill it. He
lived a life of holiness, of purity. He was holy in thought,
in word, and indeed, as it says here in the Hebrews, he did no
sin. He never transgressed the holy,
righteous law of God. He fulfilled it. He listened
to the words of Jesus when he was here upon earth. I come not
to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. And that's what Christ has
done. You know, this is a, these are
very fundamental truths of our most holy faith. The law has
been fulfilled and honored and magnified in the glorious holy
person of Jesus, the son of God. And when we read in scripture
of the righteousness of Christ, we're reading of the perfect
obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ to the law of God is fulfilled. And that perfect obedience is
imputed to every child of God. They receive the righteousness
of Christ by faith. They have to say themselves I
am all unrighteousness. I'm a sinful, wicked, unclean
person. I have a heart which is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. And they really feel
that to be so. But my hope is built on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. But ye are come unto Mount Zion
and unto the city of the living God. heavenly Jerusalem. This is the gospel, my beloved
friends, and to an innumerable company of angels reconciled
unto God. Where? In Jesus Christ. We are
reconciled unto God. I often refer you to that beautiful
chapter in the second epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 5
and it speaks very beautifully there of the righteousness of
Christ. In chapter 5 and verse 17, therefore
if any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are
passed away behold all things are become new and all things
are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ
and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit that
God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word
of reconciliation. Now we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's head, be ye reconciled to God,
for he that is, God hath made him to be sin for us, who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him,
who knew no sin. Spotless, innocent and pure,
our great Redeemer stood, while Satan's fiery darts he bore,
and did resist to blood, but ye are come. What a mercy if
we are one of these coming sinners, but ye are come unto Mount Zion,
unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to
an innumerable company of angels. Here in the Hebrews, the apostle
speaking of the angels, he said, are they not ministering spirits
sent forth to minister them that are the heirs of salvation? An innumerable company of angels,
heavenly messengers that the Lord has given to protect and
to keep his church and his people here on earth. What a mercy. It says in scripture that every
one of the Lord's living family has an angel. Jesus said, didn't
he, are there not angels behold in the face of your father which
is in heaven? To the general assembly and church
of the firstborn. Christ was the firstborn son. And it's called the church of
the firstborn. And the church is delivered in
Christ, delivered from sin, Satan's power, the General Assembly and
Church of the Firstborn which are written in heaven." Written
in heaven. What a wonderful precious truth
that is written in heaven. You know my mind it just goes
to the Apostle in the Epistle to the Ephesians and he speaks
there so beautifully concerning the the church of God and He
says For this is Ephesians 5 Verse
23, but the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is
the head of the church And he is the Savior of the body Therefore,
as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to
their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that's the Holy Ghost, that he might present
it to himself, a glorious church, not having spots or wrinkles,
or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. The church, holy and without
blemish. How? You know, I've often mentioned
to you, it's in Ephesians and it's in the Colossians, where
the Lord Jesus, he says, he will present you holy. that was made
so very precious to me in my early spiritual days. And he
says in Colossians 1 verse 21, and you that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. to present you
holy. You know, friends, as I sat there
reading that scripture, it was so amazing. I'd probably read
it many times before, but it just stood out. It says in the
Song of Solomon, apples of gold in pictures of borders of silver. And it just stood out. And I
was so amazed. How can that be? A poor, wretched,
sinful worm of the earth presented holy, unblameable. But the Lord
gave me a little meditation on the wonderful sacrifice of Christ,
on the precious fullness of the blood of Christ. And it was through
Him that we'll be presented holy, unblameable, unreprovable in
His sight. Why? Because Jesus lived for
us. And Jesus suffered and bled and
died for our sins. He paid the penalty due. He paid the redemption price.
It was only He that could do it. You might say, why is it
only that Jesus, the Son of God, can do it? Well, on the one hand,
because He's the Son of God, and all the dignity, worth, and
power of the sacrifice and the blood of Christ is in that He
is the Son of God. but He fulfilled the law. What
we can't do, Christ has done. Christ has done the General Assembly
and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men,
made perfect. He will present you holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in His sight. He will present the church perfect,
spotless. It says in Solomon's song, doesn't
it, thou art all fair my love, there is no spot in thee. No spot in thee. What a wonderful
thing, without blemish, without blemish. And to Jesus, the mediator
of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh
better things than that of Abel, the mediator of the new covenant. We have those lovely words written
by the Apostle Paul to his son Timothy in the faith. There is
one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus,
who gave his life for ransom for all, to be testified in due
time. The man, Christ, Jesus. What an emphasis there is there
of the sacred, holy, human nature that the Son of God assumed in
the womb of the Virgin Mary. We've often explained to you,
the Son of God cannot die. God cannot die. He's the eternal
God. He's unchangeable. The Son of
God, in His divine nature, cannot be tempted of evil. Cannot be
tempted of evil. He's holy and righteous. He cannot suffer. He cannot be
tempted. But the Son of God, in that profound
mystery of godliness, of God manifest in the flesh, He could
then be tempted. He could then be tempted. He
could then suffer. He could then bleed. He could
then die. You see, my beloved friends,
the wonderful glory in the incarnation of the Son of God. That He could
then live for His people, suffer for His people, die for His people,
shed His holy, pure and righteous blood for His people. I love
that the Apostle in the Acts of the Apostles and I think it's
in chapter 20 and he speaks so beautifully there when he's with
the elders at Ephesus. He says in verse 28 of Acts 20,
take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the
which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church
of God which he, that is God, which he had purchased with his
own blood. You see then the connection of
the importance of understanding that the Son of God assumed human
nature. And that in that human nature
he lived and suffered and bled and died, the son of God. His precious blood, it cleanses
from all sin, his sufferings. He was made a curse for us. Cursed it is every man that hangeth
upon a tree. It says in the book of Leviticus,
is what is called a typical precept. Why? Because it points to Christ.
Why should a person that is hung on a tree be any different to
any other person? But it's a typical precept. It
points to Christ. Cursed is every man that hangeth
upon a tree. And that Christ would bear the
sin and shame of the church. And he would suffer in his own
sacred, holy, human nature what the church should have suffered
for a never-ending eternity. We cannot even begin to comprehend the depths of the
sufferings of Christ. We cannot comprehend that the
Father laid upon him the iniquity of us all. The whole Church of
God from Adam's day to the end of time, the Father took their
sin and he laid it on his son. He was made sin for us. He that knew no sin was made
sin for us. Oh, my beloved friends, do you
have an appetite for these wonderful, precious truths of our most holy
faith? And to Jesus, the mediator of
the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh
better things than that of Abel, Abel, when Abel was slain, the
first murder, slain by his own brother Cain. And what does his blood call for?
Revenge. Revenge. The curse. That's what Abel's blood called
for. but the blood of Jesus. You see,
it says here, unto the blood of Sprinklin that speaketh better
things than that of Abel, the blood of Jesus calls for mercy,
for peace, for salvation, for reconciliation unto God. Be ye reconciled unto God. How? Through the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son that cleanseth us from all sin unto Jesus. the mediator of the new covenant,
and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than
that of Abel. What wonderful grace is the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and what a wonderful truth, and I
pray that it may, as it were, fix itself in your heart. But ye are come unto Mount Zion,
unto the city of the living God, Jesus says, come unto me, all
ye that labour and have elated, and I will give you rest. But
ye have come unto Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
and the general assembly, and church of the firstborn, which
are written in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and the
spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus. the mediator of
the new covenant, and to the blood of Sprinkly, that speaketh
better things than that of Abel. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together Hymn
45, the tune is Northmoor 197. How can ye hope, deluded souls,
to see what none e'er saw? Salvation by the works obtained
of Sinai's fiery law. Hymn number 45, tune Northmoor
197. ♪ Thee alone ♪ ♪ Thee alone at
all ♪ ♪ We'll sing of God the best of all ♪ ♪ Salvation Lord
of all ♪ ♪ Of Zion's glory known ♪ ♪ Here
in Israel ♪ ♪ And in the land of
Israel ♪ ♪ Come back, oh come back ♪ ♪ Come back again ♪ ♪
Come back again ♪ ♪ Gloria, gloria ♪ ♪ In excelsis Deo ♪ ♪ Gloria in excelsis
Deo ♪ ♪ Of help and goodness there ♪ ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave ♪ I love him selfless. His cross contains 10 others
who pray, ♪ On which the pheasants grow ♪
♪ And there's a man ♪ ♪ With gold on him ♪ ♪ Home, come home ♪ ♪ I've been
away ♪ ♪ From stayin' at home ♪ ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home
of the brave? ♪ ♪ And watch the fields arise ♪ ♪ Seek thou from it ♪ ♪ Sister
or next time ♪ Their water flows above. If you did not touch the corner
of the sky, within a page would glow. to live by faith in Jesus Christ,
the King of glory. O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? 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.