Let us commence our service this
evening by singing together hymn number 1131. The tune is Alstow
330. We have thy promise, gracious
Lord, thou wilt be where thy people meet. O then, fulfil thy
gracious word and make our happiness complete. Hymn 1131. tune alto 330. O Lamb of God, who takes away
the sins of the world, My gracious Lord, I thank Thee
for happiness complete. is to tell of thee, bring me
together in thy name. ? That God the Father may acclaim
? ? To God's great glory ever proclaim ? We ask thy gracious presence
here, the sweet enjoyment of thy love. Help me, Lord, for He must live,
And sendeth out a song in the clouds. ? Holy Spirit take ? ? Our sinning,
teaching, prayer, and faith ? ? We ask of none ? May healing bless the peace that
guide me every place. Faith does lead in peace to find
the doubts and fears. They learn to heal the the full grain of peace, and
every sin of soul redeemed. We ask her in a yearning way.
We ask her, blessing on thy birth. ? God shall forever sing sweetly
? ? In the history of the present moment ? Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter
11. First Epistle of Paul to the
Corinthians, chapter 11. Be ye followers of me, even as
I also am of Christ. Now I praise you brethren that
you remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances as I
deliver them to you. But I would have you know that
the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is
the man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or
prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head. But every woman that prayeth
or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head. For that is even all one as if
she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered,
let her also be shorn. But if it be a shame for a woman
to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. For a man indeed
ought not to cover his head, For as much as he is the image
and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man. For
the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither
was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man. For
this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because
of the angels. Nevertheless, neither is the
man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in
the Lord. For as the woman is of the man,
even so is the man also by the woman. But all things of God. Judge in yourselves. Is it comely
that a woman pray unto God uncovered? Doth not even nature itself teach
you that if a man hath long hair, it is a shame unto him. But if
a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair
is given her for a covering. But if any man seem to be contentious,
we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. For in this
I declare unto you, I praise you not that ye come together
not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when
you come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions
among you, and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies
among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest
among you. When you come together, therefore,
into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper, For in
eating every one taketh before other his own supper, and one
is hungry and another is drunken. What, have ye not houses to eat
and to drink in? Or despise ye the church of God,
and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? Shall
I praise you in this? I praise you not. For I have
received of the Lord, that which also I delivered unto you, that
the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took
bread. And when he had given thanks,
he broke it, and said, Take, eat, this is my body, which is
broken for you, this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner
also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup
is the new testament in my blood. This do ye, as often as ye drink
it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread
and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come.
Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup
of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood
of the Lord. But let a man examine himself,
and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he
that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation
to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many
are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would
judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged,
we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned
with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when
ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. And if any man
hunger, let him eat at home, that ye come not together unto
condemnation, and the rest will I set in order when I come. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, we do bow before thy glorious
majesty. We desire to worship thee in
spirit and in truth. And we desire that the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and
the sacred fellowship of the Holy Spirit, may rest and abide
upon us. We pray 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 enlighten and revive and renew our hearts in
spiritual things. We pray that where there is darkness,
there may be light, that where there is bondage, there may be
liberty, that where there is a great distance between thee
and a poor sinner, they may be made nigh. Oh, do hear us, Lord,
we humbly pray thee. Guide and direct us at this time
Most Blessed Spirit of Truth, without Thee we can do nothing.
No heavenly power, no divine unction. Without Thy heavenly
power, O Lord, no sweets the Gospel can afford, no drops of
heavenly love will fall. And we pray that it may be so,
that there may be the dew of heaven upon our branch, the divine
unction and power of the Holy Ghost in our souls. And Lord,
we pray that if we need admonishing, that we may indeed be admonished,
be submissive under the admonishment. We pray for the spirit of Christ. Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me, but not my will, but thine be done. We pray for that same spirit.
that same love and that same submission to the mind of our
Heavenly Father. We pray that we may be favoured
with Thy presence here tonight, that we may be given the spirit
of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father, that we may witness,
O Lord, as we read in the Word, for God has sent forth the Spirit
of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Lord, we pray that
it may be so, that we may know our sonship, that we may know
that we are sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty. Oh,
do hear us, Lord, we humbly pray thee. We pray for the presence of the
Lord Jesus, that one and glorious mediator between God and man,
the man in Christ Jesus. gave his life of ransom for all
to be testified in due time. We pray for hearts of gratitude,
of thanksgiving for the incarnation of the Son of God, for the virgin
birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was made of a woman made under
the law that he might redeem them that are under the law.
We thank Thee for the life He lived as a man here upon earth,
the law He fulfilled and honoured and magnified on the behalf of
His people, something, Lord, that we cannot do. But Jesus
has done it. I come not to destroy the law,
but to fulfil it. And we thank Thee, most gracious
Lord, that He has magnified the law and made it honourable. Lord, we do pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou wouldst come and magnify thyself here tonight,
that we may behold thy glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. We pray that we may
behold that scene of matchless grace. It is Jesus in the sinner's
place, that we may behold Gethsemane and the Judgment Hall and the
Crucifixion, that we may behold the Lord of life and glory, that
we might behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of
the world, that we may see that he was judged in our room, place
and state, He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised
for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and
with His stripes we are healed. We thank Thee for that glorious
sin atoning sacrifice. We thank Thee for that precious
blood that He shed, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth
us from all sin. We thank Thee that He died for
us, He paid the ultimate price. He laid down His life for His
friends. We thank Thee that He rose again on the third day and
brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.
He has swallowed up death in victory. We do thank Thee, most
gracious Lord, for what Jesus has done. He's bodily ascended
into heaven. be seated at thy right hand.
Oh, we come, most gracious Lord, in thanksgiving for all thy tender
mercies, thy loving kindnesses that have passed before us in
the way. We pray that thou would remember
us as a church and as a congregation, that thou would work mightily,
powerfully, and effectually among us. that it might be to the great
glory of thy holy name. Oh, we do pray that we may truly
love each other, serve each other, bear each other's burdens, thereby
fulfilling the law of Christ. That we may esteem each other
better than ourselves to be. Lord, do grant us this grace.
even the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we do pray that
thou wouldst remember our brethren, the deacons, and give them the
grace, wisdom, and help and undertake for them in all their concerns.
We pray for each one in affliction and pain, that thou wouldst grant
thy healing hand and thy supporting mercy. We pray for each one of
our brethren and sisters in church fellowship, that thou wouldst
bless us indeed, unite us together. Lord, we pray for that wonderful
union and communion with Jesus Christ, in union with the Lamb
from condemnation free, the saints from everlasting were and shall
forever be. I ought to know more of that
union between our souls Jesus Christ. Remember the whole of
our congregation. Remember the little ones that
gather with us, the children. Bless them indeed. Open their
hearts to receive thy word. Remember the young friends in
all their concerns. Graciously go before them, bring
them to living faith in Jesus Christ. Make them true followers
of thee. and of those who through faith
and patience inherit the promises. We thank thee for bringing home
our young friends here in peace and in safety. And we pray that
thou would remember parents, give wisdom, grace, and help
in all matters. Remember all in the midst of
the journey of life. Remember the prodigals that have
wandered away and stretch out thy almighty arm and cause them
to return. Lord, there is nothing too hard
for thee. Indeed, thou art able to do abundantly
more than we can even ask or think. Lord, we do pray that
thou would remember those of us that are now in the evening
time of life's journey and guide us safely unto thy heavenly kingdom. We pray to be delivered from
sin and Satan's power. We pray that when the enemy comes
in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord may lift up a standard
against him. We pray to be delivered from
worldliness and carnality which abounds within us. Deliver us
from sin and Satan's power. Deliver us from the workings
of our own sinful heart from the old man which is corrupt.
Often, Lord, we have to confess, O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? But we thank God
that through Jesus Christ our Lord, that he is our only hope. Oh, we do pray to know more of
his presence, more of his spirit, that we might have the mind of
Christ, the spirit of Christ, that we may continually look
to him. 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. Be with us, Lord, as we turn
to thy holy word. Come and open thy word to our
heart and to our understanding. 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 199, The tune is Melodious Sonnet
647. Come thou fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never cease
in call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious
sonnet sung by flaming tongues of art. Praise the mount, O fix
me on it, Mount of God's unchanging love. Hymn 199, tune Melodious
Sonnet 647. ? The power of Christ of every
nation ? ? To my heart, to save my grace ? ? Jesus, bless me
now, all creation ? ? The words of your heav'nly King
? ? Peace on earth, peace on heaven ? ? In heaven's open arms ? ? Praise
and thanks ? ? Let it be known yet ? ? That our love shall never
end ? ? Here I raise my heavenly hymn
? ? Here alone I have my song ? ? And I burn inside my creation
? ? Take thee to thy right hand,
Lord ? ? Jesus, Lord, we hail the Savior ? ? Born in Bethlehem,
Lord of God ? He should say, Why so proudly
we hailed, At the twilight's last gleaming? ? And in grace have raised the
dead above ? ? Daylight has shone to me ? ? Let that grace, Lord,
my hope bestow ? ? And I walk with God to Thee ?
? And to Thee, and to Thee ? ? And to Thee, and to Thee ? ? In my heart you take and seal
it ? ? Keep it all night long, my love ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I will direct your attention to 1 Corinthians
chapter 11 and we'll read verse 19 for our text. First epistle to the Corinthians
chapter 11, verse 19. For there must be also heresies
among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest
among you. The apostle writing here to the
Corinthian church, he seeks to correct some of the things that
were wrong in that church. And he says at the beginning
of our chapter, be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ. And then he reproves them because
some of them were walking disorderly. And he reproves them in the previous
chapters on various other things that had gone wrong in the church
at Corinth. Corinth was a a large city and
it was on what is called an Isthmus. It was a very narrow piece of
land and the sea going to the west was on one side and the
sea going to the east was on the other side and so there was
a port on each side of the city. It was a very busy commercial
city and sadly as it is so often with those places it was full
of iniquity and vice and idolatry and paganism. And these people in Corinth were
called from those places. They were called by divine grace. They were called out of the world.
And yet, as the word says, we're not to live in the world. In fact in the previous chapter
6 he writes to them there and he says in verse 9, Know ye not
that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be
not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
or effeminate, that means homosexual, nor abusers of themselves or
mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers,
nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such
were some of you. And such were some of you. It's what they were. It's not what they are now. And
such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified,
but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by
the Spirit of our God. You see, such were some of you. We are exhorted in one place
in the world, aren't we? Remember the hole of the pit
from whence you were digged. Remember that you were a fallen
son or daughter of Adam. Remember when you were only had
eyes for this world and the things of this world and the ways of
this world. Thou shalt remember all the way
the Lord thy God hath led thee to humble thee. And the path
that the living child of God is led in is a path that humbles
them. A path that brings down their
flesh, their nature, their carnality. can be some very trying things
that the Lord brings into your pathway, into your circumstances. And every heart knoweth its own
bitterness. You know the path that you tread
and the path that you walk. Perhaps nobody else knows about
it. But the purpose of the Lord is
to humble us. I shall remember all the way
the Lord thy God hath led thee to humble thee, to prove thee,
to see what was in thy heart. It says in, I think it's Psalm
111, the Lord tryeth the righteous. Just naturally speaking, you
would think the Lord would try the wicked. But no, he tries
the righteous. The Lord tryeth the righteous. None of us are righteous in ourselves. No. We're all sinners. We were all born in sin and shaped
in iniquity. So when the word of God speaks
of the righteous, it speaks of those that have been made righteous. the Apostle in the Epistle to
the Romans. He quotes from the Book of Psalms
and he has a whole list there. There is none that doeth good,
no not one. They are all turned aside. Their
mouth is as an open sepulcher. You see, that's us by nature. That's where we are by nature.
What a mercy if the Lord by his Spirit has quickened our soul,
has convinced us of our sin, has brought us to see and to
know and to experience. If ever my poor soul be saved,
it is Christ must be the way. Christ must be the way. Christ
is the way. Jesus said, I am the way, the
truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. The Apostle had been away many
years when he said that I may know him. Who? Christ. That I may know him in the power.
He didn't just want to know about him. You know, it says here in
the Epistle to the Corinthians, knowledge puffeth up. That is
just the bare knowledge, it puffs us up in pride. But grace humbles. Grace humbles. or that we might know more of
this humility and love. The Apostle says, doesn't he,
about humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God. Humble yourselves therefore under
the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due season.
There's coming a time when you'll be delivered from this crucifying
pathway. the Lord will deliver you and
the Lord will help you, for that we may be given that grace to
wait on the Lord. This is something that the true
living child of God finds, waiting upon the Lord. As it says in
Isaiah chapter 40, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew
their strength They shall mount up on wings as eagles, they shall
run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. They that
wait upon the Lord, or that we may be among those. Blessed is
the man that watcheth daily at my gates, waiting at the posts
of my doors. How many of us here in this chapel
tonight are waiting, waiting for the Lord's appearing, waiting
for the Lord's blessing, waiting for the Lord's light, waiting
for the Lord's guidance, but they that wait upon the Lord. In that sense, and we think of
waiting upon the Lord, and we think of the words of our Lord
Jesus Christ, ask and you shall receive, seek and
you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. There
are three shalls in that. It's a very positive statement.
Don't say you might or you could or perhaps, there's no ambiguity
whatsoever. Ask and it shall be given you. Oh that the Lord would give you
grace to keep asking, to keep waiting, to keep watching, to
keep praying. Ask and it shall be given you. You may sometimes feel like the
Lord's servant, Abraham, when he hoped against hope. Perhaps
there's something that has been in your pathway for quite some
time and you keep praying. You maybe sometimes feel like
Jeremiah, I cry and shout and all my prayer he shut it out.
You may feel that way. But they that wait, says in Psalm
27, wait, I say, upon the Lord. Wait, I say, upon the Lord. Blessed is the man that waiteth
for me. Notice the way it's put, we have
to wait for him. We have to wait for him. We have
to wait for his appearance. that lovely word in the mind
of prophets if the vision tarry wait for it it is yet for an
appointed time but it shall speak it shall speak it's yet for an
appointed time the lord will appear he will you read through
the life of the apostle paul and the many times that that
dear man was brought down and greatly humbled and persecuted
and many stripes and imprisonments. And yet he, by the grace of God,
he lifted himself up and he carried on. Nothing would stop him from
preaching the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. But he had to
go in the strength of the Lord God. And that's how the Lord's people
have to walk. I will go in the strength of the Lord God, I will
speak of thy righteousness, even of thine only. I will go. Don't be tempted to give up. Don't be tempted to turn back. Don't be tempted to pray no more. Those temptations will come.
And you will say, I'm not going to pray about this anymore. You
keep looking. You keep watching, you keep waiting. Now, here in this epistle to
the Corinthians, it gives a few, what you might say, sundry words
of advice here, especially of when they come together. Firstly,
it's be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ, is as
much as to say follow me as far as I follow Christ because Christ
is the one that we profess to serve and we profess to follow and
there was divisions among them as the Apostle says in the previous
verse to our text I hear that there be divisions among you
and I partly believe it There was divisions among them
concerning head covering. We firmly believe from this scripture
here that when we come together for divine worship a woman should
have her head covered. And as it says a man should have
his head uncovered. You see, it says in verse 5,
for every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head
uncovered dishoneth her head. For that is even all as one as
if she were shaven. Now, in those days, it was a
great shame for a woman to be shaven, to shave off her hair. For if the woman be not covered,
let her also be shorn. But if it be a shame for a woman
to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. And it says here
in verse 10, for this cause ought the woman to have power on her
head because of the angels. Now, the best explanation that
I've ever read on that was one of the godly Puritans. And he
said here, it's the angel, it's the minister, just as it says
in the book of the Revelation, the angel of the church of Ephesus
or of those seven churches, the epistles were written to the
angel of the church. The Lord Jesus held them responsible
for whatever was taught and believed in that church. And I felt that
was a good explanation. The woman should have power on
her head because of the angel, because of the minister of respect. the house of God and also to
show that she is in subjection to her husband and as he says here in verse 12 for as the woman is
of the man even so is the man also by the woman for all things
of God all things of God and then he speaks of the divisions
that were among them and obviously there were divisions
on doctrine. And this is what he means when
he says in our text, for there must also be heresies among you
that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. We need to make a very clear
distinction here friends. There are errors and there are
heresies. And we need to be very clear
on this. You can be in error and still
be a child of God, but you cannot be in heresy and still be a child
of God. You might say, well what is the
difference between an error and a heresy? A heresy is something
that deals with the absolute fundamentals of our religion. It's a denial of a fundamental
doctrine of our most holy faith. And by fundamental, I mean as
regards to the Godhead. As the Word of God teaches us,
there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Spirit. The Eternal Father, the Eternal
Son, often called the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And it says these
three are one. Now, if we have wrong views of
the Trinity, if we deny the divinity of Christ, as many do, or if we deny the divinity of
the Holy Ghost, We deny the doctrine of the Trinity, such as the Jehovah's Witness. They deny the divinity of the
Holy Ghost. They deny the divinity of Christ. They only accept the Eternal
Father. The others are not God. They
deny the doctrine of the Trinity. That is a heresy and that will
be a solemn, the apostle Peter, he deals with this in his epistle,
in the second epistle of Peter, he deals with this, he calls
it damnable heresies. In the second epistle of Peter,
chapter 2, in the beginning of the chapter, But there were false
prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false
teachers among you, who privily will bring in damnable heresies. That gives us an idea of a heresy,
it's a damnable thing. Even denying the Lord that brought
us, brought them and bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
and many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way
of truth shall be evil spoken of and through covetousness shall
they with vain words make merchandise of you whose judgment now of
a long time lingereth not and their damnation slumbereth not. Friends I want to emphasize this
you cannot be in heresy you cannot deny the divinity of the Father
or the divinity of the Son or the divinity of the Spirit and
the doctrine of the Trinity and still be a child of God. A person
that does that is in terrible darkness and bondage. They are. It's a fundamental thing. And
this is the distinction that may be made between an error
and the heresy. Or there's a very nice piece
by J.K. Popham in the Gospel Standard
this month and he speaks there of those
things that are fundamental but he goes on to speak about
baptism, church order. Now he said these are not fundamental
to life They're important. We believe
what we believe. We believe that a person that
is born again of the Spirit and comes to saving faith in Jesus
Christ should be baptized by immersion. That's why we're called
strict Baptist. And in so doing, they can then
sit at the Lord's table, having made a profession of their faith.
But then we have Presbyterians who sprinkle infants at birth.
but they're godly people and we must recognize that and we
must agree to differ on those points of church order. But it's
something of a completely different thing when somebody denies the
divinity of Christ, the humanity of Christ, the efficacy of the
blood of Christ. That's a heresy because upon
this rock I build my church. And if they're wrong on the very
rock that they profess to be building on, they cannot be a child of God.
They cannot be a child of God. I remember writing to a man years
ago now, regarding some fundamental doctrine. And you know, when
I was a young man, I had a very blessed experience. Not long
after I was baptized, I was sorely tempted, sorely tempted that
Jesus was not the Son of God. And that temptation brought me
into terrible bondage and darkness. It did. I wondered where the
scene was going to end. And it didn't matter how much
that I prayed or read in the Word of God, I couldn't find
it. It was as if I was blinded by
that temptation. And I began to think that perhaps
it was right, he wasn't the eternal Son of God. I was single at the
time and I was so troubled about this, I was sitting up in bed
late, well in the early hours of the morning, reading in the
Word of God with these things so pressing upon me. And I was
reading in the book of the Proverbs. And when I came to Proverbs chapter
eight, how the Lord showed me that it was Jesus Christ that
was speaking there. And he says in verse 21, that
I may cause those that love me to inherit substance and I will
fill their treasures. But it was this that delivered
me. The Lord possessed me in the
beginning of his way before his works of old, I was set up from
everlasting. And oh, the view I had of the
sacred glory of the eternal son, of the eternal father that was
manifest in the flesh. And you know, friends, the wonder
of wonders was that after that, I kept reading, I kept searching,
and I found it everywhere. In the Old Testament, in the
New Testament, the wonderful glory of Christ. I am Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last,
I am he which was and which is and which is to come, I am Jesus
Christ the same yesterday and today and forever. We spoke of it on Tuesday evening
at the prayer meeting. And you know when we think of
yesterday, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and then we look at
these words, I was set up from everlasting, it is yesterday
eternal. He's always been the Son of God.
He always will be the Son of God. He's immutably the same. He's the eternal Son of the eternal
Father that was manifest in the flesh. Now, I wrote that letter and
I actually put in that letter that experience that I'd had
in Proverbs 8. And how the wonderful glory of
Christ was revealed to me as the eternal Son of God. And in
letter of reply, He completely rejected my experience
in Proverbs chapter 8 of the wonderful eternity of the Son
of God. And he made a statement that
so astonished me. He said, you do not find Christ
in Proverbs chapter 8. And when I read that, I thought,
this man is not enlightened. He doesn't know the truth. Even
when it's right in front of him in the Word of God. See, these
things are heresies. To deny the true humanity as
well as the divinity of Jesus the Son of God is a fundamental
heresy. To deny that he had a real true
human nature, that he became bone of our bone and flesh of
our flesh, that he lived here upon earth as a man, that he
was made of a woman, made under the law, that he might redeem
them that are under the law, He became bone of our bone, flesh
of our flesh. He was made like unto his brethren.
His brethren are those that were chosen by the Father and given
to him from the ruins of the Adam 4. So the Son of God took
our nature and lived as a man here upon earth in our nature.
Bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. And the whole of his life was for his people. And you know, in the whole of
his life, he did no sin. Neither was guile found in his
mouth. Spotless, innocent and pure,
our great Redeemer stood while Satan's fiery darts he bore and
did resist to blood. You see, in the Garden of Gethsemane,
when the Lord Jesus prayed to his father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me, but not my will, but thine be done. He was willing
to lay down his life and by, as it says in John 10, And by
the laying down of his life, he means that holy human life
that he took in the womb of the Virgin. The Son of God cannot
die. The Son of God cannot be tempted
of evil. But the Son of God manifest in
the flesh in that profound mystery of godliness. He could suffer, bleed and die
for the sins of his people. He could shed his precious blood. to redeem his people. You see my beloved friends, it's
very striking in the letters to the seven churches of Asia. Firstly that the Lord Jesus,
Howard, the angel of the church responsible for the doctrine
that was in his church and the doctrine that was taught in his
church and what was believed in his church. And he held him
absolutely responsible for it. That's a very solemn responsibility
for the Lord's servants, isn't it? And he reproved them sometimes. So one or two of those churches
that they had what was called the doctrine of the Nicolaitans,
which thing I hate, the Lord said. There was error, gross
error in the church. has been ever since the time
of Christ. You look back into the history
of the church and at various times, just recently we've had
brought before us the creed, the Nicene Creed and how that
was produced because of the errors that had come into the church
at that time, what is known as Arianism, the denial of the divinity
of Christ. And there were those godly men
in the church that formulated a form of words clearly laying
out what was sound doctrine. In the Athanasian Creed, which
was just after the Nicene Creed, I've often quoted to you where
there was those in the church at the time of Athanasius when
they were denying the divinity of Christ. Some were denying
the humanity of Christ. Some were denying that Christ
had a human soul. There's nothing new under the
sun, friends. But they produced what is called the Athanasian
Creed. And speaking of the person of Christ, it is beautifully
simple. Very God, very man. He's verily God, he's certainly
God, and he's certainly man. In one glorious person, God and
man. You know, again we must be clear
on this doctrine of Christ and of the Incarnation, that there's
not a human person and a divine person. No. That's why it's so
clearly revealed in the Gospel according to Luke, how the Holy
Ghost overshadowed the womb of the Virgin and sanctified the
seed of the Virgin and immediately The Son of God assumed that seed
of the Virgin. That human nature that the Son
of God assumed in the womb of the Virgin Mary had no existence
separate to the Son of God. So we don't see a divine person
and a human person. We see one person, the Son of
God, who assumed human nature. Who assumed human nature. who
became bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. And friends, these
are the reason I bring them before you. It troubled me much. I wrestled for a long time this
morning when I was reading. And this eventually, it seemed
so clear that I've got to bring this text before you. There must
be also heresies among you that they which are approved may be
made manifest among you. And if you look down the history
of the church, it's always been the case. There have been those
heresies, those that have gone completely off the rails. Look
at in the days of J.C. Philpott, when he was editor
of the Gospel Standard, and there were those that were denying
the eternal sonship of Jesus Christ. They denied that he was
the eternal son of God. I think I mentioned on Tuesday
evening John MacArthur in America who just recently passed away
and he was a heretic. People flocked after him. He
had a congregation of 10,000 people and yet he denied the
divinity of Christ. He said that Christ did not exist
until he became a man here upon earth. He also denied the efficacy
of the blood of Christ. He said that we are not saved
by the body fluids of a man. That was his exact words. That's
heresy, friends. It's denying the efficacy and
the power of the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, that cleanseth
us from all sin. He obviously knew nothing of
the preciousness of the blood of Christ. Like Joseph Hines
in that lovely hymn, 1156. What is that name that speaks
for me? in heaven's high courts above,
and from the curse has set me free, tis Jesus' precious blood. That precious blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son. All the efficacy, power of the
blood of Christ is in this, that He is the eternal Son of God.
All the efficacy and power in the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary
is that He is the eternal Son of God. All the dignity and worth
in the person of Christ is this he is the son of God he's declared
to be the son of God with power it's the same with the divine
person of the spirit of God the Lord Jesus speaks very solemnly
doesn't it of the unpardonable sin what is the unpardonable
sin well as far as i can see it's quite difficult to discern
But if I understand it correctly, it's when we attribute the work
of the Spirit of God to the devil. You know we need to be very careful.
We do. And that's an unpardonable sin,
to attribute the work of the Spirit of God. They said that he casteth out
devils, by Beelzebub the Prince of Devils, when of course they
cast them out by the power of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost
is a glorious person. He's the third person in the
Blessed Trinity. He is spoken of in Holy Scripture
as a person. Some, in their erroneous thoughts
on it, they said, well, no, the Holy Ghost is just an emanation
from the Godhead. The Holy Ghost is just an attribute
of God. My beloved friends, He isn't. He's the eternal spirit of the
eternal God. He's co-equal and co-eternal
with the Father and with the Son. He is a divine person. And He is the one that sanctifies
every child of God. He does so by entering into their
heart, by quickening their souls into life, by dwelling in their
hearts. When I was on holiday in Scotland,
a man rang me. He was actually a Scottish man.
I don't think he was ringing from Scotland. He said, I understand
you're a Calvinist. He didn't tell me his name. And
he proceeded to berate the doctrine of election, et cetera. He said,
you're an evil man, you're a wicked man, you're teaching things that
are wrong. He said, a person believes because
they want to believe. So I directed him here to Corinthians
1. The natural man receiveth not
the things of these spirits of God, for they are spiritually
deserved. The natural man is dead in trespasses
and in sins. unless the Holy Ghost quickens
the soul of a poor sinner, brings them to see their lost estate,
and brings them to see that Jesus is the way to God. That's the
only way, my beloved friends. If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, that's the Holy Ghost. He is none of his. He is none
of his. Oh, that the Lord would give
us clear views of these fundamental doctrines. of our most holy faith
and also give us clear views of what is fundamental and what
isn't fundamental. Some people will make a big stand
upon something that is not fundamental at all. May the Lord grant us the teaching
of the Spirit, the guidance of the Spirit of God, for there
must also be heresies among you, that they which are approved
may be made manifest among you. There's a word in the Epistle
of Titus, he that is inherited after the first and second admonition,
reject, reject, for he is subverted, subverted to some new doctrine,
some doctrine that is not scriptural, not according to the word of
God. We're attached to everything by the word of God. It says in
the word of God, to the law and to the testimony, if they speak
not according to my word, it is because there is no light
in them. Are we sound in the faith? Lord Jesus been revealed to you.
Now if the Holy Ghost reveals Christ to you, there's only one
Christ he reveals, and that is the glorious person of the Son
of God manifest in the flesh. And you'll be brought by God's
grace to see a beauty and a loveliness in God manifest in the flesh.
The Spirit of God, he gives faith that worketh by love, and your
fall in love with Jesus Christ, and your desire to follow him
and to serve him in your day and in your generation. For there
must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved
may be made manifest among you. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
34. The tune is Roscommon 401. To comprehend the great three one
is more than highest angels can or what the Trinity has done
from death and hell to ransom man. Hymn 34 to Roscommon you O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? ? Out of Jerusalem's distrapers
? ? That drew from nature ever night ? ? That Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost ? Glorious, to save us all from concern. The Father's love in this we
find He made things come as sacrifice The Son in law is my free joy,
the spirit of love is found at night. ? That we the Trinity ? ? Embrace
? ? In humility ? ? To Christ appear
? ? Our grateful hearts and hands
? Voices raise, they wake and above us we sing. ? Glory to God the Father be ?
? Because of his salvation to die ? ? Glory to God the Father
be ? There is not within this whole life ? Glory to God the heav'nly host
? ? Whose broad stripes and bright stars ? ? Through the perilous
fight ? ? 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 both now and
forevermore. Amen.